


Cabinet Man

by TheWritingDork, what_in_the



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: Angst, Arcade, Arcade Cabinet, Autistic Michael Mell, Horror, Infection, Insanity, Inspired by CabinetMan fanart, M/M, Mentioned Hanging (does not occur), Mild Gore, Original Broadway Cast, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Psychological Horror, Psychological Torture, Puppets, Survival Horror, Trans Jeremy Heere, dogs kicked three times and we hated writing the dog getting kicked three times I’m sorry, established boyf riends, some elements inspired by Amnesia: The Dark Descent, video games - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-22
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2020-12-21 13:23:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 39,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21075587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheWritingDork/pseuds/TheWritingDork, https://archiveofourown.org/users/what_in_the/pseuds/what_in_the
Summary: Dates were supposed to be fun, right? And so were video games. They weren't supposed to be deadly, were they?Michael was sure of the first, but now he isn’t so certain about the second. As his first date with Jeremy goes south, Michael finds himself literally fighting for his life in a twisted game of hide-and-seek. With not only his life, but the lives and very sanity of everyone at stake, Michael will have to used every ounce of video game knowledge he has to survive.The question is, will he be able to save everyone, himself included, or will he lose his mind before he gets the chance?





	1. Game Start

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, Ari/TheWritingDork here (michaelmellancholy on tumblr)! This fic... wow, it’s a lot. Please take the tags we have seriously, we don’t joke around in this fic. 
> 
> Why? Well, it’s a horror fic for Halloween. 
> 
> The idea for this fic came to me after seeing the Cabinet Man post on tumblr ( https://gearwe.tumblr.com/post/186454256959/circuit-board-to-brain-with-two-lungs-collecting ) and it came to be. 
> 
> This fic is also our most recently completed. Normally, Mara and I have fics stockpiles to eventually release, so our writing style may have a big jump ahead and then jump back a little with the next fic to be released after this. There may also be a character minorly mentioned in here that doesn’t have this fic as their original introduction in our works (his name is Marshal). 
> 
> We are also doing daily chapter uploads, up until the last chapter is posted on Halloween, so be prepared!
> 
> Also also, the wonderful magicalplaylist on tumblr and Ao3 collaborated with Mara/what_in_the (booglebug on tumblr) and I to create a wonderful ‘cover’ for our fic! As soon as it is posted, I will link to it in this chapter and, more than likely, the next chapter as well! It’s amazing and I’m honored to work with such an amazing artist somehow. <3
> 
> And now, finally, a few words from Mara:
> 
> ‘Hey Lovelies! This is an awesome story (in my opinion anways) because it's not only our first attempt at a horror piece, it also gives you a little peek in to what's to come. Not to mention, the fantastic magicalplaylist has drawn us an amazing cover. WHAT? Thank you so much, you're super talented and we love you <33333
> 
> Now, for this actual story. It is horror, so please pay attention to the tags. We don't hold back as much as we usually might, so things get pretty damn dark at points. It's also inspired by an art piece which you can find a link to above.
> 
> Enjoy!’
> 
> —
> 
> Cover by magicalplaylist: https://magicalplaylist.tumblr.com/post/188572333934/cabinet-man-by-michaelmellancholy-and-booglebug

Everything was totally fine. It wasn’t like Michael started dating his best friend that he grew up with for twelve years before the start of Spring Break and didn’t wanna fuck everything up with a possibly terrible first date. Nope, not at all. Michael was calm, cool, and collected. His moms made sure of that before pushing him out the front door to walk next door to Jeremy’s house with the flowers he bought him in hand.

Alright, he had this all planned out. After giving Jeremy the flowers, he’d keep it somewhat familiar by taking him to the arcade in town. It was the only one left since their arcade, Rocky’s, had shut down. He didn’t know why, but it had, and this one he didn’t care to know about was the only one left. It was a perfect metaphor for their new relationship, right? Old concept with a new twist... Hah, he totally wasn’t nervous. Totally not.

Tugging at the hem of his shirt, he ignored Honey’s adorable barks and the view of her and his moms watching him from the side window. Actually, no. He gave them a look as Ina and Mama were totally laughing before waving and shutting the blinds.

OK, he could do this. Yup. Michael walked up onto the porch of the one-story home of the Heeres before knocking to the tune of the Pac-Man theme.

There was a sort of scrambling sound, and the sound of someone tripping over something wooden, before hitting the door. After a pause, and the sound of Jeremy taking a few breaths and maybe cursing quietly, the door opened.

Jeremy was there, red faced and smiling nervously. “H-hey Mikey!” He grinned. “Y-you look really nice!”

Michael couldn’t help feeling his face warm at the compliment. He wasn’t used to getting them in a non-platonic way, give him a break! “Hey Remy.” He couldn’t help but smile as he looked at Jeremy. Holy hell, he wasn’t wearing his cardigan for once, but he looked so cute.

Wait, Jeremy’s face reddened. Had he said that out loud? “Yes, y-you did.”

“O-oh. Well it’s true.” Michael held out the flowers to Jeremy. He would be lying if he said he didn’t look into color and flower meaning to get him the perfect first-date bouquet. “These... these are for you.”

Jeremy took the bouquet of daffodils, lavender, and red tulips, his face getting even redder. He probably knew the meaning too. New beginnings, devotion, and a declaration of love.

“Thanks...” He held them close. “You wanna come in for a minute? Just so I can get them in a vase.”

Michael nodded as he fiddled with his shirt hem again. Damnit, he should have at least tied his hoodie around his waist for comfort. Now he was gonna be extra nervous. “Yeah, I love your house,” he said (stupid, of course Jeremy knew that already) before walking in.

Jeremy giggled. “Make yourself at home. I mean, this is sort of your second home anyways, why wouldn’t you be at home?” He was rambling, his own nerves clear, before he blushed and darted off to the kitchen.

Jeremy being nervous helped ease Michael a bit. Granted, he was almost perpetually nervous in general, but seeing him nervous about their date... It helped ease him.

Michael sat down on the couch, taking a moment to be calm. Cool. Collected. Yeah, he could do this. Totally!

A minute later, Jeremy came back into the living room, carrying the flowers in a nice vase. He set them on the table and turned back to Michael. “I- Er-... ready to go, wherever you planned?” he asked, fiddling with the hem of his shirt.

For some reason, whenever Jeremy was nervous, Michael felt his own nerves slip away. He didn’t want him to get too nervous.

Michael stood, taking Jeremy’s hands in his own. “Yeah. This is going to be fun. I just want you to have fun.”

Jeremy relaxed a little, smiling up at Michael. “I’m sure I will considering I’m with you. You make everything fun.”

Oh god, keep the flusteredness that was coming under control! Aaah! “I hope I’m able to keep doing that. Now, let us depart. Your noble red steed awaits in my driveway.”

“At least you didn’t have to drive all the way here.” Jeremy squeezed Michael’s hand and followed him out the door. “So where are we going?”

“Well, since we can’t go to Rocky’s, I’m taking us to another arcade in town.” Michael glanced to see only his chubby shiba inu staring at him through the window this time, thank god. “After, I was thinking we pick up some Wendy’s for dinner and, I know this may sound like we’re moving too fast, but you come over to my place after? Or yours. Your dad is out of town, so we won’t be... interrupted.” He wiggled his eyebrows, knowing fully well that Jeremy would be flustered but also get a kick out of it. The asexual jokes strike again.

Jeremy turned red but he also spluttered out a laugh. “Dude, allosexual is _not_ a good look for you.” He cackled, relaxing massively. “But yeah, come over to mine and we can watch a movie or something. _And_ you can stay over.”

“Hell yeah. Jammie time,” Michael cheered as he unlocked his Cruiser. He opened the passenger door for Jeremy, bowing dramatically. “For you, my good sir.”

“You’re too kind, sir Mell.” Jeremy put on a stuffy accent as he slid into place, trying (and failing) to hide his red cheeks. So Jeremy seemed to like it when Michael was being chivalrous or something? He’d have to keep that in mind.

After shutting Jeremy’s door, Michael went around to the driver side and got in. He started the car, making sure that the music was the burned CD Jeremy made him when he asked Michael out. As soon as Wheezer started playing, Michael smiled at Jeremy as he started backing out of his driveway.

Everything was going to be great.

It didn’t take them long to arrive at ’It’s From Japan!’ since it was only about ten or so minutes away. It would have been surprising that they didn’t go there before until you considered that Rocky’s was right by the elementary school they went to and they’d end up there after school every day. Michael didn’t like change too much (most of the time, sometimes he wanted it, like dating Jeremy) so they never really stopped.

“Woah, this place looks cool! Very much an eighties and nineties vibe.” Jeremy nodded approvingly, getting out the car and looking up at the building.

Michael nodded in agreement as he got out of his Cruiser, locking it up and stuffing the keys into his pocket. Before he locked it though, he took his hoodie out of his car. OK, when his moms said to dress nice to pick Jeremy up, that was just for the pick up. They were going to be in the zone. In order for Michael to win Jeremy prizes (he heard there were UFO catchers here!), he had to be on his A-game. He couldn’t do that without wearing his hoodie, his comfort object and good luck charm.

As he slipped on the comforting weight of his hoodie, Michael became aware of someone watching him. When he looked around, he caught Jeremy’s eye, who looked away with a bright red face. Had he been staring?

“Y’know, you looked really nice when you picked me up, but you look best in your hoodie,” he mumbled, his cheeks not cooling in the slightest.

Oh god, sincere compliments and honesty! Michael managed to keep his cool as he gave Jeremy a (hopefully) tender smile. “Thanks, Remy.” He gave Jeremy a quick one-armed hug before opening the doors to the arcade, holding it open yet again for his best friend (and now boyfriend, that was still so surreal).

Jeremy shot him a grin and slipped inside, tugging Michael in after him.

The number of cabinets was amazing, this place was even bigger than Rocky’s! Each game set seemed to be sorted by how old it was, with the older games in the back and the newer ones in the front, and the three primary colors sort of color scheme just made everything feel vibrant. The black carpets and ceilings, which were covered in multicolored stars, really just made it feel like they had entered a strange video game world in the best way.

There were a few other patrons strewn around, and Michael peered all the way back to see a small concession stand. It looked like it has good stuff to snack on, and it was even themed to fit the retro aesthetic? Hell yes!

But first, Michael had to win Jeremy prizes. He found a free UFO catcher that had plushies in them of Sanrio characters. While he was personally a fan of Cinnamoroll, Hello Kitty was calling for him. He had to get her for Jeremy. She looked so fluffy and soft to the touch!

“Hey, let’s check out that one first,” Michael said as he lead him over. Seeing that the machine took ones and fives, Michael pulled out a few one dollar bills before sticking it in and testing out how this machine differed from normal US crane games.

Michael could vaguely feel Jeremy standing next to him but he tried not to pay him any mind yet. He was getting a feeling for the machine.

After two failed attempts at getting the plushie, Michael had a solid feeling of how it worked. Without too much trouble, he navigated the claw above the little kitty plush and caught it. The claw held fast and finally Michael dropped it down the shoot.

Jeremy’s cheer trailed off when Michael held out the plush for him to take.

“Wait, really? For me?” he asked incredulously before slowly taking the plush and hiding his reddening cheeks by nuzzling against the soft fluff. “Thank you, Mikey.”

“Of course.” Michael felt himself buzzing with pride as he scouted around for another free machine with good prizes. Oh, another plushie one opened with Animal Crossing characters! There were Isabellas that were calling to him. “And I’m not done yet. C’mon.”

Jeremy trailed after him, eyes wide with excitement.

The second machine he went on was very similar to the first, so he managed to get Isabella after his third try once again. He still wasn’t satisfied, though, not until Jeremy’s arms were filled with plushies. He looked so cute with Isabella and Hello Kitty in his arms, especially when he snuggled them, that he couldn’t _not_ get Jeremy another.

There was a catcher with hedgehogs in it, but then there was also one with a variety of Kirbys in it. Which one-

Oh. He saw his next prize and he was getting it.

Taking Jeremy over, he inserted two dollars for this one. He would get this, there was one so close to falling off the rack. Michael just had to hit it off right-

Yes! He won the laurel-wearing alpaca that was lying down! Michael whooped, and some other patrons applauded him as the blue plush dropped for him to grab. “For you, my dear furry friend.”

“It’s so fluffy.” Jeremy made grabby hands for it, making sure to keep his other plushies carefully in his arms. He seemed to love it so much that he didn’t even complain about the furry comment, which meant Michael had made the right choice in toy.

Jeremy was practically drowning in fluff when Michael handed it over. Yup. Totally adorable. And very much the right choice.

“It’s so fluffy, but don’t die because of the fluffiness, please,” Michael teased before looking around to see if there was a good cabinet for them to play. Out of the corner of his eye, he swore he saw something. Maybe it was from one of the displays. Yeah, probably. There were a lot in this huge arcade.

Jeremy tugged on Michael’s sleeve which caught his attention from whatever he had seen. “Mikey, there’s a Pac-Man machine,” he whispered, his excitement palpable.

“Oh shit. Let’s do two player and see who can get the higher score,” Michael offered in a hushed tone, grinning wide. Whatever scores were on this machine were going to get decimated.

As expected, both Michael and Jeremy destroyed the high scores, though Michael noted that Jeremy seemed a little off his game. Maybe it was because he was still nervous. Either way, Jeremy was well behind his usual level of skill so Michael won pretty easily.

Michael happily beamed as he saw ‘MOM’ at the top of the scoreboard, so far ahead of everyone’s scores. Well, except for ‘JNH,’ AKA Jeremy. “God, I love Pac-Man,” he almost sung before grinning at Jeremy. “How about we try a few more cabinets, I can get us a snack after the next cabinet or two, and once we’re done, we blow this popsicle stand to get Wendy’s and go back home?” At the moment, Michael was buzzing. This date was going better than he thought it would thanks to his anxiety. Woo!

“Sounds like a plan!” Jeremy chirped, grabbing the plushies and holding them close to his chest. “Wanna play Street Fighter? I saw the cabinet for it over there.” As he pointed, Michael could have sworn he saw a figure standing a few feet away, but when he looked, there was no one there.

Probably just his imagination. “Yeah, for sure. I’m gonna kick your ass,” he told Jeremy before running to the machine. Michael laughed at Jeremy’s squawk and whine before he ran after him.

As it happened, Michael did win, but it was close. Jeremy was clearly relaxing, but Michael found himself tensing up. He was sure he could feel someone watching him.

In the corners of his vision and screen, he swore he saw glitching. Whenever he’d glance over to check, it would always be gone. Was his imagination just really deciding to mess with him right now? He wasn’t really enjoying being messed with.

“See, told you that I’d kick your ass, Remy.”

“Yeah, but only just,” Jeremy protested. “You’re off your game. Wanna try a single player for a bit? Maybe the competitiveness isn’t so good on a date.”

“Uh, competitiveness is great when you’re already best friends,” Michael countered with a playful pout before shrugging. “We can look around to see what looks cool or good. While we do that, we can see if the concession stand in the back is any good.”

Jeremy grinned and nodded, then he paused. After a moment, he leaned up and shifted his plushies. The kiss to Michael’s cheek was light, barely there, but it was beyond massive to Michael.

His face was so warm. Michael couldn’t help grinning ear-to-ear as he bent down and pressed a kiss to Jeremy’s forehead before turning and looking to the concession stand. “I think I saw that they have slushies. They probably aren’t better than Slurpees, but we can still try them.”

“S-sure!” Jeremy beamed and followed after Michael.

Michael got the both of them a slushie (Seven-Eleven was so much better), but on the way over, a machine just _called_ to him. It was closer to the back, though it looked like the cabinet was released in the nineties, not the eighties. The top read ‘SQUIP’ and it had some cool retro yet eerie vibes coming from it.

Jeremy had been heading onward to a different machine, but he stopped with Michael. “Y’wanna play that one?” he asked, squeezing his plushies.

“Yeah, it just seems like it’s beckoning me. ‘Michael, come here and get the new high score,’” he teasingly said, even if he was somewhat serious about it.

Jeremy giggled and started towards the machine. “Well I have no doubt you’ll be able to get it. You’ve destroyed every other machine we’ve tried.”

“Yeah, that’s true,” Michael said with a smile and shrug as he made it to the machine.

He couldn’t help but glance at the side, reading the game’s acronym spelt out. “‘Sanity Quality Under Intense Pressure...’ That sounds like a really badly translated Japanese title,” Michael mused as he took to the controls.

“Probably is. This arcade _is_ called ‘It’s From Japan’ after all.” Jeremy grinned as he bent down and put in a dollar. The title screen flashed up.

Okay, show time.

For a second, everything felt normal as Michael navigated the menu to start a new game. Then the world shifted beneath his feet and he fell towards the screen.

Instead of an impact, there was a bright flash of light blue and then Michael was tumbling head over heals through the air. He landed with a hard thump on his ass.

He seemed to be in some sort of stone room, bare of almost everything except the door. His bare arms didn’t feel cold-

His hoodie was gone. And his clothes had been replaced by... a black tank top, cargo pants and fingerless gloves. Heavy boots covered his feet and his hair was pushed back by a bandanna.

Looking around, Michael saw a massive window. Outside it seemed to be a giant version of himself. He was playing the video game and Jeremy watching over his shoulder, looking excited.

What terrified Michael even more than all of this was the blue that flashed over giant him’s eyes. Was this... Did he seriously just get sucked into the game? That was what his brain kept going back to, but that was so ridiculous! It couldn’t be real.

Yet here he was, in the fucking arcade cabinet, looking out at the world like Ralph did it Wreck-It-Ralph. “Hey!” Michael cried, waving his arms at Jeremy and his body. “Will me screaming at you even work?! Jeremy! Hey!”

“Mikey, look! The main character even has glasses, that’s so cool. You don’t see that with old arcade games really,” Jeremy mused happily, oblivious to Michael’s struggling.

“Ah, so you decided to play my game,” a voice from behind said. Michael spun around but was unable to do more than that. Was he _really_ caught in a cutscene?

The man was tall and strikingly familiar (he looked like Keanu Reeves honestly). His white suit with the blue circuit board designs gave him an aura of power, and the calm, controlled way he spoke made him seem untouchable. “By entering my maze, you’ve agreed to play. You will be betting your life for untold riches.”

Michael wanted to say something, but what came out of his mouth wasn’t it. Yeah, he was definitely apart of a cutscene right now. “I will get your untold riches or die trying!” The look this man gave him after he said that, even if this man sounded like Ted from Bill and Ted’s Adventure, made chills run down his spine.

“And die you shall, if you aren’t careful,” he warned. “To make this fair, the first floor of my mansion shall be used to teach you the rules. After that, you can only rely on your wits and skills.” He started pacing. “My game is designed to attack you not just physically but mentally also. Your sanity is as vital as your life. If you value either, be sure to stop in the safe rooms at the end of each maze.”

Wait, was his actual sanity going to be put into play? Holy shit, what kind of shit did he literally get sucked into?!

Despite his want to question this, Michael was forced to continue his cutscene lines. “Thank you for the fair warning, but know that I will make it to the top of your mansion and win.” He was forced to strike a pose with his hands on his hips. God, Michael hated this. He just wanted to woo Jeremy with a great first date! Now he was stuck in a video game, playing for his literal life and sanity?!

“I’m willing to give you a fair warning, Michael.” Wait, how did this guy know his name? Was the protagonist also called Michael? “No, this isn’t part of the coding. We’re going off script while the game loads for your darling Jeremy to watch. This is much more than a game. You lose, and your body is mine to do as I please. You die and you become my puppet. Losing your sanity won’t kill you, but you won’t survive long without it.”

Michael tried and found that, during the loading and out of the cutscene, he was able to talk and move. “How did you- OK, no, that can’t be explained in a loading screen.” He probably didn’t have much time before he had to fight for his life. “What happens if I win?” That was a good one to ask.

“You get to leave,” the man said simply, grinning. It sent a shiver down Michael’s spine. “Unless you want to bargain for more, that is. No one has won to date, and I already have so many souls under my control.”

“You-“ No, stay calm. “Well, if you’re so confident that you’re going to win, then you won’t mind making a bigger bargain for me, yeah? If I win, you let all of those you’re controlling go.” God, how the hell was he managing to stay calm right now?

Maybe it was a side effect of becoming the heroic protagonist.

The man smiled. “Very well. Now, I suggest you get going. You and I will see each other again soon enough, Michael. Either when you win, or, more likely, when you die.” There was a fizzling glitch, then the man was gone.

“Looks like it finally loaded! C’mon Mikey, start the game!”

Michael felt his stomach churn for a moment before he sighed and started moving on ahead. Time to see what hellscape awaited him.


	2. Misunderstanding the Situation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, Ari here!
> 
> This chapter is a bit shorter, but some vital stuff happens here. No real seriously messed up stuff is happening... yet. 
> 
> Sorry for the short statement today, I’ve been so busy and I am drained today, omg! 
> 
> And now, a few words from Mara:
> 
> ‘Hey lovelies! Just quick notes from me, work has been killer and I have big days tomorrow and Friday.
> 
> In this chapter, Jeremy is ignorant, then sad. Michael is struggling, and the danger is more real than he though.’

Jeremy was starting to get bored. This game was much longer than normal and not playing it was getting kinda old. Not to mention that Michael was totally ignoring him to focus on the game, which sucked. This was supposed to be a date, not just playing video games.

So far, Michael had completed the tutorial and the first level with ease. The generic zombies in the maze weren’t too hard to avoid, and he was doing well at the Amnesia-like game. Not that Jeremy would expect anything different, but still. He was starting to get bored.

“Hey Mikey? I’m gonna go find something else to play, I’ll be back in a bit, okay?” No response. Ugh, he knew Michael could get focused, but this was getting ridiculous. Jeremy picked up his plushies from the top of the cabinet and headed off to find _something_ to do.

After this, Jeremy was gonna rag on him (in an obviously playful manner) for hyperfocusing in on the game. It was the least that Michael deserved. When he took a last glance at the screen, he saw Michael getting through the maze and catching the accidental gaze of a zombie that had a theater mask welded on.

As he went, he noticed some of the workers , well, working. He hadn’t seen them before, they were mainly in the back of the place besides going and checking the machines every now and then. Jeremy swore he saw some kids that had gone to his school before... Richard Goranski from freshman year? Yeah, he was going through, checking the machines now. What the hell? He hasn’t seen him, well, since freshman year!

Did he even go to school anymore? Jeremy wasn’t even sure…

Actually, he spotted someone else from school, Dustin Kropp! What the hell? Why were there so many high schoolers employed here? Whatever, Jeremy was just going to find a game.

He passed by Dustin as he went, and found he got a sort of chill down his spine. Weird. Also was Dustin wearing contacts? Jeremy had never seen such... intense blue eyes before, and he was sure Dustin had brown eyes. He remembered having a bi-sis about it and realizing he had a thing for brown eyes (Michael had the best, prettiest brown eyes).

He was about to just pass it off until he saw Rich come back over from checking the machines. Dustin almost flawlessly, and without looking, handed Rich over a soda at the same time that Rich gave over a bucket change and dollars to. They walked while doing that too, switching off as Dustin went to the back ‘Employees Only’ room and Rich took over the concession. Wait, when had Dustin even worked concession? He thought some older dude that had the curly hairstyle of Anthony Padilla was there before.

There was something screwy in this arcade for sure, but Jeremy couldn’t place what. As soon as Michael was done, he figured it might be best that they leave, he was getting weird vibes.

Eventually, Jeremy found a machine to play on, even winning some tickets that he could trade in for prizes over the concession stand. Michael had gotten him presents. Jeremy could get him something too.

Holy _shit_ was everything intense looking. It was all so realistic and fucking grotesque to see decaying flesh with welded on masks for theater. Literally, he was going through an abandoned theater for this level. Who the hell thought that a school building was a good first level, let alone a freaking theater as a second level?!

Michael managed to get around a corner, catching his breath and calling himself as he listened to the pitifully ‘cheerful’ singing from the zombies. They were getting further away, thank god. He was almost to the safe room. He’d be able to see through the window again (the only time he saw the window that let him see outside, after the tutorial, was when he was in those rooms).

As he wove through the maze, ducking into a props closet to avoid another zombie, he wondered just what was happening in the real world. Was Jeremy still watching him? How much time had even passed? What would happen if the staff tried to forcibly remove him from the cabinet if he ended up staying past closing?

Unfortunately, he couldn’t get an answer to any of those questions until he made it to the safe room. He’d at least know about Jeremy.

Taking a deep, calming breath, Michael listened until he heard that the coast was clear. Making sure he had his flashlight as well as his knife, he started heading to the straight shoot that he knew would get him into the safe room.

Behind him, he heard the audio cue that told him he’d been seen. Shit, he had to really sprint for it now!

The door to the safe room was in sight and Michael was almost there when he felt a scratch on his leg. It hurt like hell, but his stride was only interrupted for a moment. He managed to slam the door to the safe room shut a moment later.

As with the rooms before, the safe room was small and sort of cozy in comparison to the rest of the game. The walls were bare and there was a small shelving unit filled with supplies like health kits and food and water. The bed was soft and was great to lie on to catch his breath.

Looking down, Michael saw that his calf was bleeding quite heavily, with a metal theater mask sticking out of it. It was the tragedy mask, and its frowny face seemed to be mocking him. Michael quickly grabbed the health kit, pulled out a healing potion, and downed it in one gulp. The mask clanged loudly to the ground as the skin repaired itself.

“God, this is so weird. I can’t wait until I’m outta here,” Michael almost groaned out as he took the backpack given to him at the end of the tutorial and filled it with supplies. Not all of them, but most. He saved a water bottle and some granola bars for now.

Unwrapping a bar (ooo, it had chocolate chips in it), he sat down on the bed and tapped the TV’s button on top of the shelving unit to turn it on. It basically only showed what was going on past the cabinet’s screen.

Michael could see it was already looking late outside, from the small sliver of window in view. It was close to sunset already. And Jeremy wasn’t even in view anymore! Had he left to go play something else or was he just taking a toilet break?

“Please show up,” Michael whined as he rested his hand partially against the TV screen. If him being sucked into the game somehow gave Jeremy the wrong idea, Michael would never forgive himself.

After about a minute, Jeremy _did_ show up. He was looking upset but sort of hopeful, and he was carrying something besides his plushies.

“Hey Mikey, I got you a cool lanyard and some pins!” he chirped, holding up the item in question. Michael couldn’t respond. Jeremy’s expression fell and he sighed.

“Look, I know you can’t control what you hyperfocus on, but normally you at least acknowledge that I exist. Did I do something to piss you off? I know I’ve been a little whiney but... this was supposed to be our first date...”

Oh god, oh no. “Jeremy, no, you did nothing wrong. You weren’t at all whiney,” Michael insisted as he pressed both hands against the TV. He felt tears starting to well up. “Please, Jeremy, I’m sorry. I wish I could get out and hug you right now. Know that-“

“I guess this is still so new and I just... Maybe I put too much stock into it.” Jeremy sighed. Still, he looped the lanyard over Michael’s head and adjusted it fondly. “I’m not angry, if you’re worried about that. If you’re even registering time right now. I’m a little upset, but we can talk about it tomorrow, yeah? Or tonight after this place closes. I just...” He stepped back a little. “I’m gonna need a bit. To process. I was really excited for today and... it hasn’t gone as I thought?” He shrugged.

“It hasn’t gone like I thought it would either. I’m so sorry Remy. When I get out of here, I’m making his up to you,” Michael promised, resting his forehead against the top of the TV as he kept watching Jeremy. “I’ll explain everything, even if it doesn’t make sense. I...” He reached up and scrubbed at his face, his granola bar dropped onto the bed. “I’m so sorry.”

“You’re not even listening, are you?” Jeremy muttered, looking away. “I... I’ll stop by your place tomorrow. And you can come over tonight if you want, when this place closes. I’m... I’m gonna head off, get something to eat. Don’t stay up too late, Mikey. Your moms would kick my ass for it.” Jeremy’s chuckle was a little watery and Michael could see the tears he was holding back. “We can talk about this and... we’ll just have to see what this means, yeah? I don’t know what I did. You’re gonna have to tell me, but I promise I’ll do better.” He scrubbed at his eyes. Michael’s body remained immobile and unfeeling. “See you later, Mikey.” With that, Jeremy walked out of frame.

“Fuck!” Michael had to pull away from the TV and he couldn’t help but slam his hands against the screen in frustration. “I’m sorry Jeremy, I’m so sorry. You didn’t do anything wrong, I promise. I fucked up by playing this stupid game!” Too distressed, Michael buried his face into his hands, letting himself cry it all out for now. He needed a good cry and release of emotions after that.

There was a sudden tapping from the screen. A person who looked vaguely familiar (didn’t Jeremy confess to finding this guy attractive at one point?) was tapping on the cabinet screen. His eyes were a vivid blue, the same color as the man from the tutorial. “You might want to try to calm down, little gamer,” he said. “Your sanity bar is going down.” With that, he also walked off screen.

Michael quickly sat up then, rubbing hard at his eyes as he tried to calm down. Did he... was he one of the souls the guy got? Was the guy taunting him? And... was this controlled dude somehow trying to help him at the same time?

After catching his breath, Michael wiped the last of his tears away before picking up the granola bar and continuing to eat. He had to do this, not just for himself but for those taken captive.

The cords snaked their way out from the maintenance panel at the stroke of midnight. Though the mind of the host was just facing level seven, The Entry, his body was still very vulnerable and there was no one else around to see them work.

The cords snaked around his legs, dozens trapping his already immobile form and holding him firm. Wherever they found skin, one would connect and begin pumping the glowing blue consciousness of the master.

The host would be ready soon.

He wouldn’t last much longer, not with his sanity dropping and with two more sanity sucking levels to come before the end, level thirteen. The host would belong to the master soon enough.

With the host, the master could spread. With the host, nothing could stand in its way.


	3. Reality Sets In

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, Ari here!
> 
> This chapter is where things really hit everybody. No more child’s play for everyone (though it hasn’t been for Michael this whole time, but Jeremy starts to get it). It’s a lot, and our poor kids need a break they aren’t going to get anytime soon. 
> 
> Also, I’m sorry about Honey. I cried at myself when I wrote that snippet of the scene.
> 
> And now, a few words from Mara:
> 
> ‘Hey lovelies! Short notes from me today, I’m working until midnight tonight.
> 
> This chapter starts to show just how bad things are getting. Also everyone is scared and sad, even if they don’t seem it.’

__Jeremy woke up in a foul mood. Well, foul was a broad term for what he felt. He was honestly miserable. Michael hadn’t showed up last night or even texted him. Jeremy had really been hoping that the whole ‘ignoring him while Michael focused on the game’ thing had been a misunderstanding or something, but it was seeming more and more likely that Michael just... didn’t feel the same way. And he didn’t have the heart to tell Jeremy that directly.

Jeremy couldn’t exactly blame Michael for feeling that way, but it hurt nonetheless. He really, really cared about Michael, maybe even loved him, and to just be ignored... It wasn’t easy.

Which was why Jeremy was getting dressed already and heading straight next door to talk to Michael and get this all straightened out. If Michael didn’t want to date Jeremy after all, he could damn well tell him himself.

Jeremy’s determination was shaken a little when he noticed the cherry red PT Cruiser was missing from the driveway, but he focused and went and knocked on the door to the Mell residence.

The loud and energetic barking of Honey was the first thing he heard. God, he loved that dog. She had only been around for a few years, but Michael had been so happy since they got her. She’d follow him literally anywhere, no leash needed- No, focus. He was _mad_ at Michael!

The next thing he heard was the sound of footsteps against the tiled entryway before the door opened. Ina was there, smiling sleepily down at Jeremy as she wore pajamas and as her hair was tied up. “Hi Remy, what’s happening? Did Michael forget something because he was so nervous for your date? I told him to double-check to make sure he had everything- Honey, shhhh.”

Honey was wiggling and whining from behind Ina, eventually making her way past as she started sniffing Jeremy. She whined and jumped her slightly-chunky (in a healthy and good way) self against him, pawing at him as if silently asking where Michael was. Granted, she always got like this when Michael stayed over at Jeremy’s house, but this... seemed different. More urgent.

Her energy was just making Jeremy... nervous. Something was wrong.

“Er- no Ina, he had everything. Mikey said he was grabbing breakfast and I thought he might have come here. I guess he’s gone to town...” Jeremy lied smoothly. It wasn’t so out of character for Michael to grab food from home when he was staying over at Jeremy’s place. The benefit of being neighbors. “Would it be okay if I brought Honey back with me? Mikey wants to cuddle with the three of us on the couch while we watch movies.”

“Yeah, sure.” Ina reached over, probably to the side table by the entryway. Yup, she did because she handed over Honey’s collar to go under her bandanna. She also gave her leash and some doggy bags over to him. “I know it’s just next door, but if you end up taking her on a walk, you’ll need these.” Ina playfully rested her hands on her sides. “Now, you tell Michael that he needs to spoil you more and get you your morning coffee sooner. You look miserable, no offense.”

Jeremy wanted to say that he _felt_ miserable but he wasn’t going to. Something was wrong. “I will, Ina. See you later!” Jeremy took Honey’s things and put them in his pockets. “C’mon Honey, let’s go see Mikey!” The dog got excited and shot to Jeremy’s side, pawing at his leg urgently.

He waited until Ina shut the front door to put on Honey’s collar and leash. Honey whined almost miserably, even when Jeremy started walking with her to the arcade. Hopefully it would be open by the time they walked there. It would be about a half an hour walk.

Honey’s mood didn’t improve even with the prospect of a walk. Jeremy kept her close, rubbing her ears every now and again. “Yeah, you and me both, girl. I just can’t believe he’d play me like this. He’s my best friend. It’s just... so out of character for your dad, y’know?” Talking with her helped, even if she was only a dog and he looked a little crazy. Talking out his feelings helped. And it helped kill time too, so he didn’t just stew in his frustration the whole time.

When he glanced down to look at Honey after he just poured his heart and soul about everything that happened, he saw Honey staring back at him. She pointedly sneezed and shook her head out. Was she saying ‘no’ to what he just said about Michael, or was he just imagining it? Michael had always said she was smart and that she said what was on her mind.

And then she went into someone’s front lawn, catching Jeremy off guard, and started going to the bathroom.

Jeremy chuckled weakly. What had he been thinking? Honey was a dog, regardless of how smart she seemed. He pulled out a bag, ready to clean up the mess she had left and just resigning himself to not seek counsel from a dog in the near future.

The journey to the arcade was mostly uneventful besides the occasional glare he got from Honey (seriously, why was she upset with him now?!). Jeremy did find he almost tripped over his own feet when he spotted Michael’s car still in the parking lot of the arcade, in the same spot they left it the day before. Did he really not leave?! Jeremy was glad the arcade let dogs in because he was about to have some serious words with Michael and he didn’t want to leave Honey outside.

Once they entered the arcade, seemingly empty besides _one_ patron, Honey fucking lost it. She whined and tried to get out of her collar, tugging at Jeremy to go to the back of the arcade. Jeremy heard the game continuing to go, and every little sound he heard just infuriated him (though there was some primal fear bubbling underneath him that he tried to suppress).

He headed to the machine and froze. Michael hadn’t moved. And that’s not in a ‘he hadn’t left that spot’ way. It was as in a ‘he hadn’t even twitched’ sort of way. Jeremy had left the lanyard in a very specific position, one to keep it out of Michael’s way while he played, but it was a precarious position. The only way it would have stayed was if Michael hadn’t moved at all.

Getting closer, Jeremy picked up on other small details. Michael’s clothes were the same, obviously, and his expression was just as focused as yesterday, but... he still had his cologne on. Jeremy had noticed (and appreciated) it yesterday. Normally, Michael would rub at his neck when he wore it, rubbing it off. It was still there. And he didn’t have any bags under his eyes, even if he’d presumably been up all night.

Jeremy’s anger was starting to fade, and was quickly replaced by fear. What was going on?

Honey rubbed her head against Michael's legs, whimpering and whining the whole time.

As Jeremy moved closer, he got freaked and had to take a step back. Michael's eyes were so... vacant. The only thing that could be considered 'lively' about him would be his hands, which were still playing the game. From the corner of his vision, Jeremy saw the title of the level being called 'Sync Up' and that his character's health was a third of the way down. The sanity meter was also a third down.

Now he was paying closer attention to the screen, he noticed something. Michael’s character seemed to be reacting to things before they came on screen. He would duck away before one of the pixelated monsters (black blobs which copied his movements) came on screen, as if he could see them himself. What?

Squinting at the screen (since seeming to literally block Michael's vision did nothing) and getting closer, Jeremy noticed that the avatar... looked a lot like Michael. Well, as close as a pixel avatar could. What?

Honey's growls snapped Jeremy out of it. Looking up, he saw Rich, Dustin, and that Anthony-Padilla-esque dude (his name tag read 'Derek') were all standing there. All three of them had the same eerie blue eyes. "What are you doing, Jeremy?" all three of them said... in perfect sync?!

Jeremy sort of plastered himself against the machine in fright. “I’m- er- just trying to get a look at the game. He’s been playing it for ages now, I wanna know what’s so exciting about it.” He was fine, Jeremy just had to remember to breathe and that people didn’t just do that. Nope. Only creepy ghost children did that in movies. People didn’t just speak in perfect unison in the exact same tone at the exact same time. No way. And if he didn’t go to school with two of them, Jeremy would have sworn they weren’t human after all.

All three of them just gave him an eerie smile, taking a step forward together as if to intimidate him (hint: it worked). Honey barked and moved herself to press against Jeremy in a sort of protective stance. "It isn't your turn to play yet, Jeremy. Once Michael loses, it'll be your turn," they all said again, a hint of a laugh at the end of the statement.

“W-What if I do-n’t want to play?”

All three of them laughed, smirking at him. It was like they were adults looking down at a child that was saying something blatantly false, and that the child didn't understand. "You don't understand that there isn't a choice in the matter anymore, Jeremy. You sealed your fate once you stepped foot into this arcade."

“Why me? Why _us_?” Jeremy was close to shitting himself but he had to know. This clearly screamed that Michael was in danger somehow and Jeremy needed as much information as he could get to save him. Hopefully. Maybe he’d need backup (he could do that later damnit!)

"Because SQUIP thinks you're both useful and that you can help him. You will, you just don't understand it yet. But you will soon, once you too become one of us."

They were fucking **_POD PEOPLE_**! The cabinet was controlling them and they were fucking infecting Michael somehow! Fucking shit, how was he supposed to combat this supernatural bullshit? First, get away from the source. But he couldn’t move, it was like his feet were glued to the floor. Or... cables were wrapped around his ankles. With a yelp, Jeremy threw himself away from the machine, landing heavily a few steps away. The cables retreated but the workers didn’t. He was left cowering on the floor.

Honey, who had some chewed cable in her mouth, growled at the workers, getting in front of them. She started barking, and the three looked a bit pained after she chewed on the cable. Jeremy managed to get himself onto his elbows in time to see Rich, even if his body hesitated, kick Honey back. She yelped as she was sent back, even if she quickly recovered and barked as ferociously as a chubby Shiba Inu could.

Jeremy scrambled over to Honey and pulled her close to his chest, running his hands over her sides to make sure she wasn’t actually hurt. Luckily, the kick just seemed to have stunned her.

That was the moment that Jeremy knew this wasn’t Rich. He barely knew the guy in freshman year, but Rich was very vocal about loving animals. He literally had stickers on his locker back then of all sorts of dogs and cats. Something, the game, had turned Rich into a Pod Person, and now it was doing the same to Michael. Jeremy curled around Honey as she stopped her barking and resorted back to growling, leaning against Jeremy to comfort him as best she could.

"You will join us soon, Jeremy. We can't wait," the three said before breaking up and going in different ways, their faces shifting a second later to the schooled expressions they had yesterday. The blue in their eyes softened but lingered as Jeremy heard the sound of the arcade door opening, followed by kids screaming about their parents giving them money for DDR.

Jeremy stayed huddled in the back, curled around Honey as he bit back tears and tried to calm himself down. He knew that he wouldn’t be disturbed, probably, if yesterday was anything to go by. People didn’t come this far back without a reason.

Michael took a deep breath as he readjusted his gloves. He had spent a long time on that level. It was tricky and messed with his head a bit. He couldn't just use all of his sanity potion though, he didn't have a lot left. It was his gamer attitude that was telling him to wait to see if the next safe room got a lot more before he drank this bottle down.

Making sure he had everything in his backpack, Michael shouldered his backpack as he climbed up the ladder on the side of the safe room to enter the next room through the trap door. This was a very inefficient way to build a mansion. (If Michael had been counting right, the next level would be the twelfth if he included the tutorial, so the game surely had to end soon... Right?)

This maze had a sort of... decaying tunnel of love theme to it. There were glittery pink hearts which were falling apart and rotting, as well as rotting nature scenery. Gross. And from his invisibility bubble which always formed around the trap doors, Michael could see his monsters for this level. Groups of burnt up, rotting cherubs. Their skin was a dark red, like dried blood, and seemed to be flaking off them. The curly hair was falling out and their eyes were clearly rotted and flat. They had bows and arrows which dripped with green goo which Michael instinctively knew was poison (video game knowledge was a life saver here, literally). Their wings were half plucked, leaving feathers on the ground behind them, but somehow still were enough to carry them in the air.

Like the level with the welded-on masks, these enemies sang. That seemed to be a key thing, actually, with all of the enemies: singing. The cherub zombies sang the same tune and key that those mask zombies had, however. Thank god he had keen listening skills.

Watching and making sure that the coast was relatively clear, Michael silently exited the bubble and started to make his way towards one of the maze entrances. Hopefully this maze wouldn't be as insane as the last one. He needed to rest for half an hour after that, and he normally only stopped to patch and fuel himself up.

The mirrors were what had really gotten him before. They made it so hard to navigate and avoid the enemies.

Thankfully, this maze seemed to be straight forward enough, but he quickly encountered an issue when he had to duck under a random table. The cherubs flew over the maze walls. They weren’t constrained to the pathways like he was.

Fucking _great_. Thankfully (or maybe not since darkness seemed to make him lose it even more so than normal in this game), there were a lot of dimly-lit to completely dark areas. He could sparingly use his flashlight (which he had gotten batteries for last safe room, thank fuck!) to give him an idea on where he was going. And also to try not to run into more cherubs. Yeah. _Yaaay_.

Even if he hated this game, he had to admit that the level design was really well done; each floor felt unique and different from the last and they weren’t actually unwinnable, just very hard. The sound design was also terrifying so well done, demented creators.

The darker areas seemed to have less and less cherubs around, which was good from a safety point of view but bad from a sanity point of view. Michael could feel the points lowering the longer he was in the dark, but he also couldn’t just step into the light whenever since the cherubs might see him!

Michael made sure to take refuge in the light areas to slowly regain sanity for as long as he could. There seemed to be one weak spot beside the dark areas that the cherubs had: they couldn't see him under things. Thank god for tables!

Unfortunately, to keep a healthy balance between sanity and safety, as well as trying to actually navigate through the maze, Michael had to switch often between the two. It was a slow pace, but it wasn't as bad as the last level. It wasn't like it was actively trying to turn him around.

Michael was pretty good at mazes, though not as good as Jeremy was, so even if his overall pace was slow, he made decent progress through the maze.

As he went, he thought about home. He didn’t know how long he’d been here for, only that his last glimpse of freedom had shown that it was day time again. He thought he might have heard Jeremy crying nearby and heard a dog of all things, but he didn’t have any visual on them. He really hoped Jeremy was okay. Michael hoped that Jeremy didn’t hate him or think this was his fault.

There were a lot of things that Michael wanted to say to Jeremy. He had a lot he wanted to do with him and say to him that he never realized before. Well, someone having their life literally on the line tended to help put things into perspective.

But he would be able to see him again. He would be able to say those things to Jeremy. Michael couldn't afford to think negatively and let himself droop. That would just bring his sanity down even further. It would be nice if _he_ could see his health and sanity meters that were, apparently, displayed on the cabinet (he heard Jeremy mention it during the tutorial).

He’d just have to keep fighting for now. Michael could do this. For himself and for everyone else trapped. Also to protect Jeremy and make sure he didn’t get sucked in like Michael did.

With that confidence and mindset, Michael kept going. Things seemed to be a little less shaky as he moved along and went through the level. He did catch the attention of a cherub a few times, but he always managed to lose them either through the dark or by juking and eventually hiding under a table. Heh, good to exploit weaknesses, especially in such a difficult game. Fuck those developers. He hoped that, somewhere, those developers could feel his metaphorical middle finger deep in their souls.

He then wondered if the developers themselves were even in control anymore or if the game had developed itself once it reached a certain point.

It clearly had some sort of AI, just how powerful was it?

The sound of a cherub coming close snapped Michael out of his thoughts and he curled up tighter into a ball. The less of him exposed, the better.

Michael listened to the horrific singing passing by, along with the fluttering of wings. He waited under the table until he was sure it was gone. He couldn’t afford to stay here longer, he had to keep going. So he did.

The mixture between the dark and the tables for hiding was exhausting but Michael could eventually see the door to the safe room. A group of cherubs were patrolling it, so he had no clue how to get past. There _were_ a couple of tables and a dark spot nearby, but he’d still get in the line of sight of the cherubs if he tried for it.

Looking around, Michael saw there was a loose bottle strewn on the floor. It was glass. After getting a good grip on it and making sure there was a table he could duck under right beside him, Michael tossed the bottle far away, over a maze wall, and listened to it break over the other side as he hid under a table.

The cherubs all suddenly had their bows ready and flew over the wall. Michael had seconds.

He flat out sprinted to the door, diving through it and slamming it shut as he heard the sound of arrows hitting the wood.

God, that was terrifying and exhilarating. Got the blood flowing and the adrenaline going. Ugh.

Sitting down on the bed, Michael frowned as he saw the small unit only had water for here, two bars, and a health kit... Thank god, there was a sanity potion!

Taking it out of the kit, he downed the sanity potion without regret. He felt the world clear up a bit more and not shake as much as it did before. Michael couldn’t help but grin in relief before taking the bars and water.

He hesitated before turning on the TV. Hopefully, he’d get some good insight at the very least to what time it was.

The sky outside was blue, so it was well into the day, but that wasn’t what caught Michael’s attention. No, Jeremy was back and he was desperately holding Honey in his arms, shaking from both fear and stress from what Michael could see. He had tears dripping down his face and he looked genuinely terrified.

“M-Mikey? Can... can you hear me?” he asked softly. “Is that _really_ you in there?”

Jeremy knew he was in here?! He was... Oh my god! Now that he really took in the scene on the TV, he hated how scared Jeremy looked and that Honey was whining, reaching over to sniff the cabinet monitor.

Michael tried to answer Jeremy’s question by nodding and waving his hands, not sure where to look to actually face the screen. “Yeah, I can!” After thinking, he tapped the TV and pointed to his ears before nodding. Hopefully the display and graphics to non-players was good enough to show all of this.

Jeremy’s eyes widened and he took a step back, bending down to put Honey on the ground. “Oh my _god_, it is you,” he whispered, coming back over. “You’re... you’re stuck in the game, aren’t you. You have to beat it to get out? Er- jump or something if that’s right.”

Michael jumped in response to that, tearing up with joy at this revelation. Jeremy knew that he was in here! Someone knew besides whatever thing controlled this game!

“Oh god, I’m _sorry_ Mikey. We-“ Jeremy took a deep breath. “We’re gonna get you out of there. I’ll figure out a way around the Pod People out here, and I’ll make sure they don’t force me onto the machine next.” He started biting his nails, a nervous habit that only really surfaced when he was extremely stressed. “All the workers got stuck in there, I think. They’re all controlled by the game. And if you lose you become like them.”

Michael could hear Honey whining, and he wasn’t sure if it was for him or Jeremy. Either way, he hopped, held up his hand to his mouth like he was gonna bite his own nails, and shook his head. Even if he wasn’t there to stop him in-person like he normally could, Michael was going to do his best to help Jeremy.

Jeremy jolted and curled his fingers into a fist, tucking them away and lowering his hand a little. He sobbed quietly. “I’m sorry for doubting you, Mikey. And I’m gonna make it up to you when we get you out, okay? You’re gonna be fine.” It sounded like Jeremy’s words were as much for reassuring himself as they were for Michael.

Since it seemed his words didn’t get put on-screen like dialogue, Michael just nodded and made a heart with his hands to Jeremy. Hopefully, it translated well.

Jeremy sobbed again before doing the same gesture back. “Can you hear me all the time? Or is it just for the safe rooms?”

Thinking on this, he held up one finger on one hand and shook his head. Then he held up two fingers and nodded. As he held up two fingers, he pointed to the TV and gave a big thumbs up once he stopped pointing to it.

“Only when you’re here...” Jeremy nodded slowly. “Well I’ll try to be here whenever you’re in one. I can’t linger too much or the Pod People get upset, but if I move around still they don’t mind as much.” He scrubbed at his eyes again. “God, this is fucking weird. I can’t imagine what it’s like for you…Do... Can you see your levels and stats and stuff?”

Michael shook his head as he grabbed onto a granola bar (it had chocolate chips again, woo!) and started eating it. If he couldn’t actually talk while talking with Jeremy, he was going to use his time wisely. Plus, he was always starving after a level.

Jeremy’s look turned determined. “Okay, your food and water levels are not too bad, only at about half way down. The food went up by about twenty percent when you used the food item.” His eyes were darting around the screen, taking in the info. “Your health is about two thirds full, it hasn’t dropped much since yesterday, but your sanity is just over half. It was lower before you had that potion.”

Michael nodded as he took that in. Maybe it would be better if he took the sanity potion now so he’d have a better shot? Yeah, that made more sense... Did the lower sanity impair his judgement?

Taking out the potion in his backpack (which was so empty now), he downed it before eating his other granola bar. He’d get an idea from Jeremy how much each item helped him now.

A moment later, Jeremy nodded. “Your sanity is back up to two thirds, like your health, and your food is about... ninety percent full? Your water dropped when you ate, though, so make sure to re-hydrate. I’m seeing on the instructions here that having zero hunger or thirst will start slowly damaging your health points.”

Michael nodded as he quickly drank his water bottle, making sure to re-hydrate himself. He wasn’t sure if it was because of Jeremy, the fact that he refueled himself, or both, but Michael was feeling amazing!

Jeremy chuckled softly. It wasn’t a happy sound, it was too wet to be so, but it was fond. “Almost up to full survival stuff. And there’s a small buff on your sanity bar. ‘Recognized.’ Looks like you’ll drain of sanity slower for this next level. Just... be careful, Mikey. I don’t want to lose you, and... I can’t do much from out here.”

“Oh Jeremy, what are you doing?” two voices said in sync close by. Michael saw Jeremy freeze up and heard Honey bark. “You can’t be giving him help, that’s cheating.”

Jeremy turned and basically pressed himself against the cabinet. Michael could just about see his face, which was twisted in terror. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry, I won’t do it again. I’m just scared and I miss him!” Jeremy was visibly shaking, and he seemed determined to keep Honey behind himself, even if he looked so terrified that he could barely speak.

“You’ll see him soon, Jeremy, once he loses,” the two voices said. On screen came that guy from before and... Richard Goranski? He hadn’t seen him since freshman year. But he also had the blue eyes, so maybe that was why. “We’re going to have to ask you to leave, Jeremy, until it’s your turn.”

“Okay. Okay, I’m sorry.” Jeremy’s shaking got harder. “Can I just say goodbye to him first? Please? Just until he’s out.”

“You weren’t supposed to talk to him in the first place, Jeremy.” They took another step closer to Jeremy, and Michael heard barking. Rich’s face hesitated, faltering for a brief millisecond, before he heard a yelp. “And control the dog or we’ll change the sign.”

“I didn’t know!” Jeremy protested, but he picked up Honey and held her close again. She was growling. “We’ll be good, I promise. Just don’t kick her again. Please, she’s just scared and trying to protect me. We’ll be good...”

Michael’s chest tightened and he had to control his anger and emotions (he’d lose sanity if he didn’t stay calm). The two workers took a few steps closer, causing Jeremy to back up and off screen. Honey’s barking got louder as they took to either side of Michael’s body, the other guy (Dustin?) reached to the side of the cabinet screen. “I think your TV time is up, Michael,” both said before the screen went dark.

Jeremy cowered under the intense gaze of the two Pod People. He held Honey close, trying to quiet her as he also tried to stop himself from being sick. He almost threw up from anxiety the first time he spoke to Christine, and this was so much harder!

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know. I didn’t even realize he could hear me, I just miss him,” he begged. “I’ll stay away, I promise. We’ll be good.”

“Just go, Jeremy. Come back in two days time. By then, it’ll be your turn. If you don’t come, we’ll bring you,” Rich and Dustin said with a smile as they each leaned against one of Michael’s sides. “No, _he’ll_ bring you. And he won’t be happy with his little dog if he has to get you himself.” Honey growled specifically at that comment.

“I’ll be back, just don’t _hurt_ her.” Jeremy held Honey tighter. She seemed to realize he needed her help because she stopped growling and barking and instead just leaned against his cheek, licking there to calm him a little. It helped a bit. “I’ll be good, please. Just don’t hurt us. _Please_.”

“We won’t as long as you listen. Now go.” Both Rich and Dustin shooed him with an arm as they kept leaning against Michael, whose hands started twitching and moving with the cabinet controls.

Jeremy scrambled to get out of the arcade as fast as he could, holding Honey close as he sprinted into the parking lot. He collapsed against the wall around the side, gasping and sobbing. “Sh-shit.” He was probably going to be sick. Jeremy let Honey out of his arms, but held onto her leash just in case.

Honey just pressed close to him, whimpering and whining as she gave him many kisses. She seemed to be trying her best to comfort him, though something caught her attention. After finishing off a few last kisses, she dashed as far away as the leash would let her as she whimpered and whined at whatever.

“Oh, hi there, little cutie. You’re Michael’s dog, right? Jeremy’s shown me lots of pictures,” a familiar voice cooed. “So Michael or Jeremy must be- Oh! Oh Jeremy! What happened?!” Down by his side kneeled Christine Canigula who started to mother hen over him.

“H-hey Chrissy,” Jeremy croaked, exhausted and still feeling nauseous. Even though they had dated and subsequently broken up (don’t ask how Jeremy got the guts to ask her out, it was a messy story), Jeremy had remained on good terms with Christine. She even helped him plan his confession to Michael a month earlier.

“Oh geez, you don’t look good at all. Ah, no offense! Do you need a ride or something? My car is parked nearby and I can get you home and rested and medicated if you need that and I’m rambling, aren’t I? Probably. So, uh, just give me a thumbs up or nod if I can help you and Michael’s doggie into my car.”

Jeremy looked longingly back at the arcade, where he could just about make out Michael through the window. Dustin and Rich were still next to him, watching him eagerly. Jeremy felt another wave of nausea wash over him.

He quickly turned back to face Christine and gave a thumbs up, leaning off to the side to take some deep breaths. C’mon, Heere, you could make it.

Christine waited for him to finish before offering her hand. Jeremy took it, letting himself be lifted as Christine took out her weapon that was her key ring full of keychains and her two legs. “I hope this doggy is good with stupid cats,” she murmured as she lead Jeremy to her car, taking a slower pace that he appreciated.

Jeremy nodded, holding back his dry heaving at the motion. Honey was a sweetheart most of the time, so long as whoever she was with wasn’t aggressive. Jeremy had no doubt that she’d get on fine with Snowball. Jeremy just hoped that he could make it there without passing out or being sick.


	4. Never Underestimate The Enemy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, Ari here!
> 
> First off, magicalplaylist has posted the cover art for this fic! They are such an amazing bean and soul and everything for working with us, though they only got a small summary of what the fic was about and what idea we wanted for the cover. THEY DID SUCH AMAZING WORK WITH SUCH LITTLE INFORMATION, AAAH!!! The link is here for you all to check out: https://magicalplaylist.tumblr.com/post/188572333934/cabinet-man-by-michaelmellancholy-and-booglebug
> 
> Second, this is a heavy chapter... Some of those tags of mild gore and violence and such come into play here. Things, in all honesty, start to go to shit, and then said shit starts to hit the fan. PLEASE take the tags into consideration with this chapter, PLEASE! Be safe but enjoy the spooky horror psychological story!!!
> 
> Third, a character introduced this chapter is one of the characters we've done in a currently unpublished fic, though we wrote that fic before this one. So... this TECHNICALLY isn't his introduction in terms of writing, but he is in order of publishing. Please give our new boy some love, even if he's in a shitty situation. <333
> 
> And now, a few words from Mara:
> 
> 'Hi lovelies! Another short notes from me, another midnight shift end! Ugh.
> 
> Anyways, this chapter is a big one. Lots of things happen, most of them bad. Enjoy!'

“And now I can’t go back to the arcade or I’m sure they’re gonna like, tie me up or something and possibly hurt Honey. And they said Michael would come get me if I _didn’t_ go back in time,” Jeremy concluded, trying to calm his shakes. Honey on his lap and Snowball, the black fuzz ball pretending to be a cat, sitting across his shoulders helped but they could only do so much. “I know it sounds crazy but it’s true, I swear.”

Christine, somehow, didn’t look on in disbelief. She had a gentle, reassuring look. She had this look whenever she was calming Jeremy from a bad anxiety attack. “I... I believe you.” Wait, what? “I know it sounds crazy to believe you right off the bat, but my step-brother from my papa’s side, not my dad’s side, Marshal, has been acting weird since he got a job at that arcade last month. He went in to check on his boyfriend, Dustin, and he’s been... strange ever since.”

Jeremy relaxed a bit at that. Christine believed him. And strange things had already been happening there, so it wasn’t just his anxiety brain messing with him.

“They’re trying to convert Michael into that too. I don’t know what to do, since they caught me helping him before. I can’t get back in without actually attacking someone...”

“Well, since Marshal works there now, I can go in and bring him something from home. Or, well, pretend to. I can distract everyone and you can go in to talk back to Michael again maybe?” Christine shrugged as she brought her knees to her chest. “I... I’d like Marshal back. I miss him.”

“It’s only been a day and I’m already missing Michael. We were on our first date... I had been thinking he was ignoring me on purpose and that he didn’t really want to date me after all...” Jeremy chuckled weakly at that. “Feel kinda shitty about that too, now. I shouldn’t have doubted him.”

“Well now you know.” Christine reached over, taking his hand and squeezing it. “We’ll get them both back and save everyone that the stupid arcade cabinet has trapped. I know we can.” She gave him a wet but determined grin before nodding. “Now, let’s eat first, you look famished.”

Michael shot into the safe room and slammed the door, the growls of the zombies behind him being muffled by the doors. The door bowed inwards a little at the sheer strength from the undead hoard but didn’t give. They never did, only Michael could get through these.

Those Day-Z style zombies had almost been too much, strong and fast and almost overwhelming him at the end there. He had to use up most of his health packs. He hoped the new safe room had more.

It didn’t. But it did have someone in there with him. The man from the beginning, the one who supposedly trapped him here. The man was smiling, a quirking his eyebrow quizzically, like he was confused by Michael’s appearance.

As he caught his breath, Michael stood tall as he glared at the man. “Why are you here?” He had to keep calm. Michael couldn’t afford to lose any more sanity. The world had started to get shaky again when he was avoiding those zombies. “And why are you looking at me like that?”

“Well you’re at the safe room before the final level. I’m here to congratulate you.” The man sounded just as surprised as Michael felt, but somehow like he was teasing Michael too.

Wait, he was at the final level? Yes, he was almost out! And then all those people this... _thing_ had control over would be free! “But there’s no way you’re here just to do that.”

“Very perceptive Michael, no wonder you’re the only person to make it this far.” The man hummed. “I’m also here to deliver two warnings, since you’ve captured my curiosity. That is, if you want them. Two little hints at what’s to come, since you’ve put up such a great fight so far.”

Why the choice to getting the hints? Michael couldn’t help but narrow his eyes as he readjusted his gloves. “Sure, hit me with your best shot.”

“Oh, good choice.” The man nodded approvingly. “The first hint is for the next and final level. On the surface, it may seem the same as any of the others, but it’s so much more cunning than that. There are two types of creatures in this maze: one you can trust and one you can’t. They _both_ will look the same, like people you love.” The man stood and started slowly pacing around the small room. It almost reminded Michael of a lion, calm and collected and just waiting for the right moment to pounce. “During your time here, I’ve been able to get into your head, have a little look-see at what’s bouncing around in there. And the image of the creatures have been taken directly from those core memories. You’re going to have to figure out who you can and cannot trust at every turn. Choose wrong and it’s an instant game over.”

Wait, what? That was... Holy shit. Still, Michael had to keep his cool. He just nodded as he watched the man circle him still. “Alright, so that huge spiel was just the first thing you wanted to tell me... What’s the second thing?”

The man grinned evilly. “The second thing relates to what happens when you get out. You see, I’m not just confined to this game. I can project myself out into the minds of the nearby people, make them obsessive and paranoid until they come to play. It’s how I collect people, how I collected _you_.” Okay, so far so simple. “It only works on people who are nearby and who show good potential in games. Can you guess who’s fulfilled _both_ that criteria already? Surely you already know.”

Michael couldn’t help but bark out a laugh. Oh, he saw where this guy was going. “You’re trying to throw me off my game, even if you’re serious. Once I beat this game and get out, I’m not letting anyone else play this game ever again. I’ll pull the plug, destroy this cabinet, anything and everything to make sure no one else falls victim to you.”

“You think that’s enough?” the man hissed, still grinning. “Can you destroy something that’s in his mind? Until he plays, I’ll be present, growing until I’ll overtake him. Jeremy will either fall in the game, or you’ll lose him in the world out there.”

“Just because you can project doesn’t mean a thing. You’ll still fall and fail, even after this game has been beat. I won’t let Jeremy fall into your grasp, not on my life,” Michael promised as he stood up a bit straighter. “What the hell even are you?”

“What I am doesn’t matter.” The man grinned, his form glitching ever so slightly. “What matters is that Jeremy is _already_ in my grasp. Right now, I can already feel him. He’s drawn to the cabinet, unable to stop himself. He thinks it’s to you, but it’s not. With a snap of my fingers, he will forget about the cabinet entirely, be focused on himself once more, but even then. Soon enough, he’ll be my darling little puppet, just like the rest. The game gives me a direct channel, but I do not need it to escape.” His form was glitching even more, barely staying together.

Even as Michael’s gut churn, he stayed determined and strong. “Even if you do somehow escape, you’ll lose. You’ll be brought down and gone and won’t be able to do a thing. I’ll make sure of it.”

“That’s only _if_ you make it out. And when you fail, you’ll be the one bringing me Jeremy yourself. Have fun.~” With that, the man glitched out of sight.

Michael doubted that that man was even remotely human as he suppressed a shiver. “I won’t fail, you technological piece of shit.” With that in mind, Michael took the few pieces of food, the water bottle, and the sanity potion as he got ready for the final level.

Jeremy tugged at his cardigan, picking at the sleeves as he tried to get his breathing under control. He hated this building already. This whole arcade could go to hell once Jeremy got Michael out. He just needed a little more time at the machine. If he had a little more time there, things would work out, he just knew it.

Honey was pressed against his legs comfortingly, and Christine was holding his hand.

“So you distract them, I’ll sneak in when they’re not looking, and if I get caught, we both go down swinging, yeah?”

Christine nodded as she held onto the reusable store bag filled with food. “Exactly. I’ll go in first, you wait until I’ve caught their attention, and then you go in.” She took Jeremy’s hand after a moment, squeezing before putting on a brave grin and heading in, calling for Marshal and his boyfriend.

Jeremy counted to one hundred, then stuck his head around the decal on the window. There were no workers in sight.

Now was his chance.

Staying low and keeping Honey’s leash tight so it didn’t jangle, Jeremy darted into the arcade. If he could get to the machine and find a way to talk to Michael again, then everything would be better. He didn’t know what he would say or do, but it had to be better than this.

As he made it to the cabinet, Jeremy saw that no workers were in sight. He did hear Christine’s loud and boisterous voice from the ‘Employees Only’ room. God bless her.

When he looked at Michael, Jeremy noticed that Michael was in a level. It... Wait, it said it was the final level, but what was he facing? Was it... No.

That looked like _him_. How was he in the game? How was Michael facing Jeremy when he was out here? Was the game literally trying to turn them against each other? Damnit, Jeremy had to find a way to talk to Michael, _now_.

Honey wiggled from where she was, obviously wanting to press against Michael but unsure if she was allowed to or not. They were still trying to be stealthy and quiet.

“You can touch him, Honey, just be quiet,” Jeremy whispered, crouching down. If Michael was still in a level, Jeremy stood no chance of talking to him. He’d have to find another way. Maybe the side panel? There might be something in there, and he could access it without too much trouble thanks to being smallish.

He was just reaching to unhook the latch when a voice startled him.

“I thought that I told you to not come until two days from today, Jeremy,” Michael’s voice said- no, not just his voice. It was layered with another voice... If this wasn’t so horrifying, Jeremy would’ve laughed at the Keanu Reeves’ Ted voice. His head turned from the screen, staring down at him with eerie blue eyes and a matching eerie smile. “I guess I should have known. You aren’t good at following directions unless it’s from someone you like or care for, at least that’s what his memories tell me.”

Jeremy realized just how empty the arcade now was when he heard the sound of nothing beeping and noticed that the lights were dimmed. “And you even got someone else involved. Now, that’s not very nice to bring other people into your problems.” A distinct scream pierced into Jeremy’s chest, one from in the ‘Employees Only’ room.

Shit.

"She sort of insisted," Jeremy protested weakly, standing up but not letting himself cower away. He wanted to, he desperately wanted to curl up into a ball and hide away, but he couldn't. Michael needed him, _Christine_ needed him, so Jeremy had to try to be strong. "Why are you doing this? What _are_ you?"

“Wouldn’t you like to know? I don’t need to tell you anything when you’ll know soon enough, Jeremy.”

Another scream echoed, and Christine came barreling out of the back room with a slash through her fuzzy cardigan. The soft and off colored yellow was being stained red as she stepped back, clutching the area. Marshal, who Jeremy now remembered from when he dated Christine and seeing him do the protective big brother ‘if you hurt her’ act, walked out with Dustin, Rich, and Derek. Dustin held the knife, and all of them had the same eerie smile and look that Michael had.

“Oh no, she got hurt. Look at what you made me make them do to her,” Michael said with the rest of the employees as Christine chucked the bag of food at them, causing them to only stumble before they kept walking over.

Christine backed up still, making her way over to the cabinet before tripping on some cables around her ankles. “What the-“

"Leave her alone!" Jeremy cried, rushing over to her and stomping on the cables and tugging at them to make them let go. "If you have all this power, just make her forget! Don't hurt her!"

“Oh Jeremy, it isn’t that simple.” Dustin handed Marshal over the knife, whose hand was shaking as he took it. “People need to learn lessons. If they don’t listen, they get punished.”

Before Jeremy could stop them, Dustin and Derek lunged forward and restrained him. At the same time, Jeremy heard Honey bark. He managed to glance back to see Rich cornering Honey between the cabinet and the wall.

Christine yelled again. Jeremy’s head almost snapped with how quick it turned to look at Christine, where more cables were traveling up her legs and arms, keeping her pinned to the floor. “Now, who should learn their lesson first?” they all said before letting out the same laugh.

Marshal stepped forward, almost straddling Christine as he held the knife above his head. His arms were trembling like leaves. “Stop, please, I’ll be good-“ He had tears falling down his face before he and everyone else spoke up in response.

“Oh, you will be. Goodbye, Chrissy.”

FUCK! NO!

Jeremy screamed and strained but it was no use.

There was a bright flash from the cabinet.

Marshal collapsed sideways, the knife slipping harmlessly out of his grip and clattering to the floor.

Dustin and Derek both spasmed before collapsing too. Jeremy heard Rich collapse behind him, making Honey's growls stop.

Jeremy couldn't hold his own weight and collapsed, panting and shivering and clawing his way over to Christine.

Christine was in shock, staring at where Marshal had been with wide eyes of disbelief. It took a few moments for her to properly register what had happened. She broke down crying, not even trying to escape the cables still traveling up her arms and legs. Jeremy managed to grab one cable that was about to forcibly enter into her open wound on her arm and yank it back.

"Stay the fuck away from her,” Jeremy growled, even as bile rose up in his throat. He grabbed the knife from the ground and started stabbing at the cables where they were on the floor, hacking at them until they were severed from the main body. The ones around Christine stopped glowing and the cut ones retreated like snakes.

Honey managed to bite some of the cables that were retreating, growling and ruining them even further. When she dropped them, some stopped working entirely as some others managed to continue their retreat.

Christine’s sobs brought Jeremy back to. He looked up and saw that her gash in her arm was intense and that the dropped knife managed to graze her neck. Along Christine’s legs were deep marks from where the cables seemed to try to cut off blood flow. “J-Jer-Jeremy, ‘m sorry. I wasn’t a good- good distraction.”

Jeremy shoved Marshal off from where he was still partially on her, trying to at least be somewhat careful, before grabbing onto Christine and cradling her.

"No, _I'm_ sorry for getting you into this. You almost died because of me." He was shaking hard and he couldn't remember what to do for deep wounds. Was it... apply a bandage and pressure?

He yanked off his cardigan and wrapped it tightly around Christine's arm, trying to staunch the flow. He could get another cardigan, he couldn't get another Christine.

“But- but that’s your favorite,” Christine weakly protested. She hissed as Jeremy got the fabric as tight as he could around the wound, though Honey licking her face and tears seemed to help her, at least a little. “Y’re a good girl, Honey. Thank you...”

"S'my favorite, but you're my Christine. Can't get another you." Jeremy half curled around Christine, shielding her somewhat as he looked around. He needed to make sure she was safe, first and foremost.

Besides the four unconscious forms and Michael still at the cabinet and now refocused to look at the screen, everything was safe. At least, as far as he could tell.

“Thank you, Jeremy.” Christine gave him a smile full of exhaustion as she rested her head against his chest.

Jeremy cradled her closer, focusing on the cabinet. "I... I think Michael won. So why isn't he out?"


	5. Hard Mode: Begin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, Ari here!
> 
> Yeah, things are only going to get worse from here. Last chapter was full of pain, but suffering starts for sure in this chapter. It's going to tug hard on your heart strings, as after this chapter, we're halfway through with the fic. Yeah, sorry Michael. 
> 
> Also, at the end of the chapter, we're going to post the list of levels and monsters for each level. The theme/song every enemy hums corresponds to the level, so be sure to look at that. ;3c I thank Mara for the enemy ideas, though I came up with the level titles and songs and such. (Also also, the song list is based on the Broadway ALBUM song and act list, FYI. I jam out to that shit ALL the time in my car and it sucks swapping between CDs, but a dedicated fan does what they need to do.)
> 
> And now, a few words from the amazing Mara!:
> 
> 'Hey lovelies! Another late night for me (I have a day off tomorrow thank god) so short notes once again!
> 
> This chapter is intense. I won’t lie, it’s a hard one. Literally :3
> 
> Michael is in for a rough time, and Jeremy isn’t doing much better. Let’s just say he’s getting a little too involved. Here’s hoping he gets out soon.
> 
> Enjoy!'

He did it. He fucking did it. He beat that piece of shit’s game!

So why the hell wasn’t he out?

As he panted, Michael looked around the huge, empty elevator room that had a shitty ‘Congratulations!’ banner across the top of the elevator door. “Hey, you fucknugget! Get your glitchy ass back in here! We need to talk, damnit!”

The man glitched into the safe room. "What's the matter, Michael?" he asked, a cocky grin on his face.

“What the hell did you do? I can’t use the elevator and I’m stuck in here, even though I beat the game! What the hell happened to me getting out and freeing everyone under your control?”

"You only ever bargained for everyone else's freedom, never your own." The man smiled, looking at his nails. "But I suppose you've earned it for beating the game." He waved his hand and the elevator door slid open. "This will take you down. Go on in if you want."

Michael glanced between the elevator and this man. “You-“ He realized what this guy did. He hadn’t said he wanted his freedom _and_ everyone else to be let go. Motherfucker. “Where does that elevator take me?”

"Down,” the man- no, _it_ was no man-replied, almost sounding bored. "The exit is in the tutorial. You go to that floor, you get out."

This _thing_ was tricky with words. No way was this straightforward. “Does this elevator take me down to the lobby where the tutorial took place?”

"Perhaps." It grinned. "But there is no other way down."

Michael crossed his arms. “Tell me exactly where you’re taking me and what you’re putting me through. I already beat your game.”

“Have you?”

His throat tightened at those two words. “What else is left to beat?”

"Hard mode, my boy." It flourished its hands and bowed. "Until you make your way back _up_, you can't win. You beat the base game and earned their freedom. I'll offer you your own freedom if you beat hard mode and the final boss. No tricks on my part."

“If I beat this game, I get my own freedom and you are not allowed in anyone else again, not Jeremy or anyone else you have possessed or could possess,” Michael said, feeling a little redundant, but he had to be clear. It was like dealing with a genie.

"Done. Now get in for your ride down, little mouse. You have a maze to navigate." The thing grinned. "Your first enemy shall be merciful. Let's see if you can outrun _me_."

Michael’s stomach churned at that. “Do I get any supplies?” He had practically nothing left except for a granola bar with _oatmeal_ in it, eugh, and half a water bottle. “I should at least get to start off with supplies.”

"You can take any supplies in this room. You'll find it stocked... barely."

Of fucking course. “How many floors do I have to climb up to get to the lobby?” Michael tried as he scrounge around for any supplies he could.

“Ten.” It sounded like it was grinning. “They’re not as long as the first set, but they’re harder.”

Well, it wasn’t like he could do anything but agree. He was in for the long haul now. “This would be a lot more bullshit if they were harder _and_ longer levels.”

"Naturally,” the thing agreed. "As soon as you're ready, head into the elevator. The level begins as soon as you exit. Good luck." It glitched away.

Michael took a few deep breaths as he walked along, searching diligently for any and all items to help him. When he finished and faced the door, he had three granola bars, two and a half water bottles, a health potion, and a sanity potion along with one more thing of batteries.

He took a deep breath as he walked into the elevator, cutting him off from the base game before he descended to the bottom of the basement.

Michael had already beaten its game once. He could easily do it again.

Jeremy was fucking exhausted. After patching up Christine with the first aid kit he found and locking the doors into the arcade, Jeremy knew they just had to wait for the controlled employees to wake up and explain what the fuck was going on.

Christine was curled up on top of Marshal, resting her head on his chest and dozing while they waited. Jeremy couldn't really blame her for needing sleep after what happened. He just hoped that Marshal was okay afterwards so they could fix what had happened.

Jeremy couldn't sleep, even if it was almost eleven o'clock at night by now. He couldn't sleep knowing Michael was still trapped.

Ignoring the ache in his chest and the exhaustion clinging to his limbs, Jeremy headed over to the cabinet to wrap himself around Michael. His body was focused on the game again, no longer leering at Jeremy, so he felt safe enough to do so.

Michael's sprite seemed to be in a box, maybe an elevator, and he was waiting for something.

"Hey, Mikey... can you hear me?" Jeremy asked with a sniffle, scrubbing at his eyes. He must have looked like a mess, all tear stained and exhausted and scared. He also had a bit of a bruise under his right eye from where he fell earlier. His body had been too exhausted to really be able to stop his fall entirely when Dustin and Derek had collapsed.

Michael’s sprite looked right at him it seemed. Normally, he was only able to understand Michael through his sprite’s actions. This time, a text box appeared that wasn’t related to a cutscene.

MICHAEL: Yeah, I can hear you- Shit, you can’t hear me, right.

His sprite waved up at Jeremy.

Jeremy's eyes widened as he quickly read the text box before it vanished. "Mikey, y-you have a text box now. I can sort of hear you." He lifted his glasses to scrub at his eyes, not moving from where he was wrapped around Michael (he needed the comfort, okay?) but also wanting to be able to read more clearly.

Michael’s sprite almost jumped on surprise from where it was standing. Somehow, he could see his evident shock.

MICHAEL: Wait, really?! Well, I guess that makes sense. I’m not in the base game anymore.

He seemed to be happy before his hands rested, as if they were pressing against the cabinet screen from the inside. He was probably pressing his hands against the screen of whatever he was looking through to be able to see Jeremy.

MICHAEL: I at least don’t have to get through another round of charades to talk to you right now, at least not until I reach the start of **Hard** **Mode**.

"H-hard mode?" he asked. That shit was bolded, it was serious stuff. "But... you beat the game. I thought once you beat it, you could leave." Jeremy was so tired. He wouldn't be able to sleep until Michael was safe, but Michael might be in there for days longer.

MICHAEL: Whatever damn thing is doing all of this tricked me with wordplay. I said **I wanted everyone it was controlling to be freed when the game was beat**.

Since Michael was saying a lot, the textbox scrolled a row of text down when appropriate.

MICHAEL: It had said the prize was my freedom, and I added that last bit without repeating that I wanted my freedom. Damn thing is worse than a genie with word play, **so I only freed everyone else and not myself**. Ugh.

Michael’s sprite looked up at him, pixels shifting to show he was looking over Jeremy.

MICHAEL: What happened to you? The arcade should be closed but you’re here and basically have a black eye!

Jeremy sniffled again. "The workers... they attacked me and Chrissy. She came to help and she almost got- almost- Marshal, her big brother, almost _killed_ her."

Michael’s sprite was obviously shocked.

MICHAEL: I hate this damn thing so much. I’m so sorry. If I could do more, I would.

Jeremy was trying to hold back his tears. "You- you saved her by winning. Marshal and the others got knocked out. The knife-" He remembered the feel of the knife as he hacked away at the cables, the subtle buzz that was sent up his arms from the electricity. "It caught her. I patched her up. And I fell, so I got a bruise." He tried to carefully wipe away the tear that escaped. Damnit.

If the sprite could sigh in relief, Jeremy was sure it would.

MICHAEL: I’m glad. Look, I don’t know how much longer I have until the elevator stops. The thing’s gonna be chasing me through the level. It said each level is harder but shorter than the original game’s levels. If... if I somehow don’t beat it, **do not play this cabinet, no matter what**.

Jeremy sighed. "How can I? You're on the only controls." That got him thinking. This could this game have a secondary set somehow? Most arcade games did in this place, maybe this one did too. He pushed that thought aside for now.

"Mikey, I miss you." Jeremy couldn't help but reach out and touch the screen. It buzzed faintly under his fingers. "I want you home." His tears were escaping and he didn't try to stop them this time. "I'm scared and I'm tired and I don't know what to do. I miss you so much."

Michael’s little pixel hands shifted to rest, to the best of the little sprite’s ability, under Jeremy’s hands. Those areas buzzed and tingled differently against his skin.

MICHAEL: I miss you too. I will be home soon. Just wait for me, yeah?

The textbox vanished for a moment before it reappeared with pixel art of Michael’s face adorned with a teary smile next to the box for once, under his name.

MICHAEL: **I love you**.

They had never said those words to each other before. Jeremy's heart stuttered. "Mikey, I-"

Michael's sprite vanished for a minute, reappearing in the normal view of the game. "No! Mikey! Don't leave yet." Jeremy knew Michael had no control over it, but it still hurt. His heart felt like it was tearing itself out of his chest. He started to sob outright, clinging to Michael's unresponsive body. The contact didn't help at all like it normally would.

Not even Honey gently nudging and nuzzling against him helped like it normally would. Jeremy just clung and sobbed.

He only snapped out of it when he heard Christine gasp. “M... Marshal? I... is it really you?”

Scrubbing at his eyes, Jeremy knew he had to act quickly. He had no clue if this was Marshal, or if he was safe. He couldn't let Marshal possibly threaten Christine again, he wouldn't let that happen.

Jeremy grabbed the knife from the counter where he had rested it and knelt down next to Christine and Marshal, who was just stirring.

"Are you really Marshal or something else?" he demanded, knife pointed at Marshal's throat. He didn't care if Christine was horrified or hated him, he _couldn't_ let her be put in any more danger.

“I’m me, Jeremy,” Marshal promised. He saw Marshal’s hazel eyes look over Christine before he gasped. “Oh god, Chrissy... Oh no, no no no, I’m so sorry. I’m sorry.” Tears were streaming down his face as he hiccuped.

Eyes checked out, as did his reaction. Jeremy sat back and removed the knife, satisfied for now. He didn't put it away. He couldn't be sure. God, this whole thing was making him paranoid.

Christine managed to shift and reach up, cupping Marshal’s cheeks as he cried. Her arm that got hurt was especially shaky. “I’m just glad to have my big brother back.” Marshal just devolved into crying exclusively as he cradled her close, nuzzling his head against hers.

Jeremy shifted back, not wanting to intrude on this moment. He might be a bit oblivious, but he wasn't stupid.

Instead, he stood and went over to check on the others. They had all been put in the recovery position (one of the only things Jeremy remembered from health class), and were pretty much next to each other. If Marshal was awake, the others might wake up too and Jeremy would need to check on them as well.

As he went to check, he heard Dustin groan and hiss. Looking over, he saw Dustin’s head raise as he reached his hand up to rub his eyes and face. “Ah shit- _ow_. Fucking... Ow.”

Okay, he _sounded_ normal, but no chances. Ignoring the bile that threatened to rise up at the action, Jeremy straddled Dustin, pinning him to the ground with the knife to his throat. No chances. Jeremy had to protect Christine and Michael, since no one else could.

"Are you Dustin Kropp or not?" he demanded.

Dustin practically yelped as he stared up at Jeremy. Yup, there were those brown eyes that caused his bi-sis. “Yeah, of course I am!” He didn’t dare move as he scanned over Jeremy’s face, as if trying to recognize him. “... Wait, weren’t you the freshman my junior year that ran into the railing and fell over and onto the pavement?”

Jeremy’s cheeks darkened at the memory, but he just rolled his eyes and climbed off Dustin. “Yeah, you’re Dustin alright.” He huffed. “And yes I am. Jeremy Heere. My boyfriend is currently stuck on that machine, so forgive me if I’m not the most polite,” he half growled, half snarked. Jeremy wasn’t in a good mood, but could you really blame him with everything that was going on?

Dustin sat up slowly, looking over at the cabinet and Michael. He seemed to not be bothered by the snark or growl. “Oh geez...”

"Yeah. He's not out even if he won the base game. He has to beat hard mode apparently..." Jeremy huffed and curled up, still not dropping the knife. He didn't feel safe enough to let it go yet. "Marshal is awake, if you wanna go see him. He's over there with Chrissy. They... that was a lot for them especially."

He hesitated, looking at Jeremy before glancing at Christine and Marshal. Looking at her seemed to help him remember what happened since a little color drained from his face before he nodded.

Before getting up though, he looked at Jeremy. “We’ll figure out a way to get him out, Jeremy, I promise.”

“He’s the only one who can get himself out,” Jeremy muttered to himself as he watched Dustin go. “I’m all but chopped liver out here.”

Honey nudged him after a minute, apparently done with lying across Michael’s feet for right now. When he looked down at her, Honey whimpered softly before hopping up against him and licking his face.

Jeremy chuckled softly, carefully shifting so he didn’t accidentally cut her. “Hey baby girl. Yeah, I’ll be okay.” He stroked her with his free hand before hearing another groan. Okay, that came from Rich. Time to get ready.

He straddled Rich before he had a chance to really move, knife to the throat. Even if the others were okay, that wasn’t a certainty. “Richard Goranski?” he asked in the strongest voice he could manage.

Rich blinked, his brown eyes showing through as he looked up at Jeremy. It seemed to take him a few moments to figure out what happened before he grinned, hope and tears twinkling in his eyes. “Is it finally over? Am I free of that shitty fucking cabinet demon?”

Jeremy sighed heavily and climbed off. “You’re free, but it’s not over, Rich. Michael is still caught.”

That seemed to catch him off guard as he sat up and looked to the machine. His eyes widened as he took in Michael. “Oh fuck.”

“Yeah.” Jeremy groaned. “It’s a fucking mess.”

“Let me see where he’s at,” Rich said before stopping and seeing Honey. His face paled a bit as he held out his fingers. “I’m so sorry for what I did. It was making me do it to ‘teach me a lesson’ for trying to step out of line. I didn’t want to hurt you-“

Honey walked over, sniffed his hand, and then went to him and licked his face. Her tail wagged for a second.

“She knows it wasn’t you,” Jeremy assured Rich. “I... you can go see, I need to wait in case this guy wakes up as one of them still.” He gestured to Derek.

Rich looked over at Derek and hummed softly. “If we haven’t, I’m sure he won’t, but that’s good to be cautious. Derek inherited this place from his dad and sort of took it over from what I know. He could probably tell you more about this place and the cabinet.” With that, Rich got up and went to see where Michael was in the game, but not before petting Honey first.

There was the sweet kid Jeremy remembered. Jeremy heard a groan, then Derek shifted. Jeremy got into position. “Are you Derek?” he asked, tone firm.

The (undoubtedly attractive) older man looked up at Jeremy, frowning a bit in confusion. “Yeah, I am- Wait...” Derek’s eyes widened (they weren’t the eerie blue) as he seemed to take in what he said. “I... it’s gone. What?”

“Michael freed you at the cost of having to continue.” Jeremy sighed and climbed off. “He’s still stuck.”

Derek looked over at the cabinet, not able to see the screen from his position. His eyes widened as he sat up, running a hand through his curly hair. “He’s... He’s been in there the longest out of anyone who’s been forced to play... The longest person lasted maybe eighteen hours last time, if I’m remembering my time right.”

“He’s been there over twenty four hours,” Jeremy agreed softly. “And he’s in hard mode. Another set of levels to complete. I don’t think he’s gonna last much longer. His sanity is already getting low.”

“Hard mode... There never used to be a hard mode before,” Derek murmured in obvious confusion. “What the hell did it do? That was never in the game’s coding before.”

“It’s like an AI demon, right?” Jeremy sighed. Derek nodded, still looking confused. “Then it probably evolved. We already know it’s self aware, and it can probably rewrite portions of the game to suit the needs of the level. It probably created hard mode specifically when Michael got close to winning.”

"Yeah, you're probably right on that," he said as a bit more clarity came to his face. "I can imagine that it's a bit of a sore loser and doesn't want anyone to better it. It was extremely cocky and a bit in-my-face when I lost the game a few years ago."

“Considering how it acted with me, it wouldn’t surprise me.” Jeremy nodded, shivering. He felt... wrong somehow. More than just being freaked. Like something had slipped inside his skin. Ugh.

Derek seemed to notice his shiver, frowning as he got up. "Let me get a proper first aid kit and some stuff for you guys," he said once he glanced over and saw how hurt Christine was. As he said that, Honey came right by Jeremy's side and leaned a bit against him.

“Sur-“ Jeremy’s voice died out when he looked down, seeing blue, glowing circuitry climbing up his arms. He stood, rubbing at it, trying to get it off.

“Um, guys?! Little help please!” It didn’t stop climbing, infecting his skin.

Everyone sort of turned then to look at him. Honey whined and sniffed at where he was rubbing. "What, do you have a bad itch?" Rich asked, walking over and kneeling down as Derek knelt back down. "I don't see anything."

“How can you not-“ It had made it past his shoulder and started on his chest, stiffening it and making it hard to breath. He choked on his words, thumping his chest and still scrubbing wherever he could see the edge of the circuits.

Derek looked right at him, his eyes widening as he seemed to see something (though it wasn't the circuitry). "Your eyes- it's messing with you. Jeremy, whatever you're seeing, it isn't real. SQUIP is messing with you."

The words barely registered. Jeremy could barely breathe, let alone think. “Help. Me,” he croaked, collapsing to the ground, thrashing as he felt electricity shoot through him.

Jeremy faintly heard the voices of the others, the pain becoming too much. He felt his breathing begin to shallow out, and he was-

Everything else faded away when he heard Christine scream again.

NO! NOT AGAIN!

Forcing air into his lungs, Jeremy bolted upright and reached to where he thought he dropped the knife, ready to protect his friend.

Then he realized that he could breathe. And that there was no glowing circuitry his arms or anywhere else on him. And Christine was safe, kneeling next to him and reaching out with concern.

“W-What happened to me?” Jeremy panted, trying to push away the dizziness he was feeling from the lack of oxygen.

“SQUIP, the demon behind all of this, was messing with you and making you see and feel things that weren’t real or happening,” Derek gently explained before he gently waved Dustin to go get something. “Just take a few deep breaths, Dustin’s gonna get the first aid kit I need and some food and water.”

“It’s in my head...” Jeremy murmured, shock and fear coursing through him. “It’s... it’s in my-“ Jeremy reached up, tugging on his hair as if he could pull the SQUIP out manually. His hands were quickly grabbed. “Get it out! Get it out!” he cried as he thrashed.

“Jeremy, don’t hurt yourself, please,” Christine almost begged, holding on to one of his hands with her hands. Derek was holding the other. “I don’t think you can yank it out.”

“If it’s beat, it’ll go away. I imagine that Michael probably made that deal with it. It’s cocky and thinks it’ll always win, so it tells you everything it’s doing because it thinks you can’t beat it,” Derek explained. “If it’s affecting you right now, it probably told Michael that. If he cares about you, he would’ve made that deal.”

“No, I can _hear_ it.” He could, it was clear in his head now. He could make out the sliver of voice. “Even if Michael beats it, it’s not letting me go. It’s not possessing me. It’s _using_ me.” He started thrashing again, eyes wide. “It’s using me as a fucking incubator!”

The grips on him tightened, not painfully so. “Jeremy, calm down. I know that seems impossible right now, but we need you to do that. It wants you to panic and listen to it and get lost to it.”

“It’s fucking in my head and I haven’t even played the fucking game!”

“Jeremy, please just listen! If you don’t, you’re gonna lose it or something because you’re gonna keep trying to get it out or something,” Christine almost begged as she tightened her grip on his hand. “You said you couldn’t lose me ‘cause there’s only one Christine. I can’t lose you either, and neither can Michael or Honey or anyone else. You’re our only Jeremy, we can’t get another one. _Please_.”

Jeremy tried to stop his thrashing, tried to listen to Christine. It was hard, but he did his best. “_Please_. Just get it out. Get it out. It _hurts_. Please.” He was begging and sobbing and probably looked like a mess but it was so intense. He could feel it inside his head, taunting him and whispering its plans. He needed it out or he’d cut it out by himself.

He saw Dustin pop down next to Christine then. “Shit, you’re going through what I went through. I don’t even like playing games besides board games, even if I’m good at them, and SQUIP made me almost lose my mind until I played the game. It’s trying to get you to play or pay for not playing. You need to show that you’re stronger than it right now and the feeling’ll go away, at least for a bit.”

Jeremy whimpered and tried to force it back. He pushed with all his mental might and managed to free himself a little, slowly stopping his thrashing. After a moment longer, Jeremy managed to pull away entirely, the presence fading to the back of his head. As it did, he heard one last whisper. "Join the game, Player Two."

He fell limp, curling against Christine with a small whine.

He felt Christine hold him close with her good arm, comforting him and running a hand through his hair. "It's going to be OK, Jeremy. It's OK."

"It's not gone. It won't leave until I join,” he panted, his voice barely a whine. "I need to go in to get it out."

“I hate to say it, but he’s right,” Derek barely said. Everyone turned to look at him, Jeremy could practically hear it. “After I got caught, my little brother came after me. He tried to help me and save me. He got caught up by SQUIP too. After trying to fight it and not playing the game, he... he tried to get SQUIP out. Physically. And he’s gone now because of that thing.”

"Derek... I'm so sorry,” Marshal whispered from where he was curled up with Dustin. Derek waved him off, clearly sad but trying to focus now and grieve later.

"I already want to cut it out. I _would_ have if you didn't stop me,” Jeremy confessed softly "I need to play it soon. And I think I know how."

“I think I know what you’re thinking.” Jeremy looked to see Rich undoing the side panel like he tried to do before. “This game system’s Japanese instructions are still somewhat intact and not faded. My, um, phase before I got sucked into this helped me to learn a bit of Japanese. There should be a two-player function for this cabinet.”

Sure enough, there was a joystick and the same buttons all stuck to a board inside the machine. It looked like it could come out a little way, enough to get it up to the screen so Jeremy could play. He had to, and seeing the way into the game had Jeremy actually straining to reach it already, even as he held himself back.

"Before you can go in there though, we need to tell you everything we know about the game and all the button commands and stuff to make sure you both can beat it," Derek told him, making sure to keep him back for now. "We all know about this game. We're going to make sure you're prepared for as much as possible."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sanity Quality Under Intense Pressure (SQUIP) Level List
> 
> Base Game:
> 
> Jeremy’s Theme (Instrumental)- tutorial  
More Than Survive - generic zombies  
I Love Play Rehearsal - welded on theater masks  
More Than Survive (Reprise) - single hoard of zombies  
Squip Song - necromorph-esque  
Two-Player Game- conjoined, mangled zombies  
Squip Enters - electrically charged zombies with a constant screaming in the level  
Be More Chill, Pt. 1 - no monsters, just paranoia and very quickly lowering of sanity  
Do You Wanna Ride? - decaying succubus creatures  
Be More Chill, Pt.2 - no monsters but health packs  
Sync Up - mirror maze with creatures that copy your motions if you get too close, possess you if you let them touch you while copying  
A Guy That I'd Kinda Be Into - foul smelling decaying cherubs  
Upgrade - day z style zombies  
Loser Geek Whatever - ones that Mimic loved ones
> 
> ———
> 
> Hard Mode: 
> 
> The Squip Stalks (Instrumental) - literally Squip chasing Michael  
Halloween - zombies with the added status effect of psychedelic vision  
Do You Wanna Hang? - tight maze with more succubus creatures  
Michael in the Bathroom - uses anxiety (lots of loud noises) as well as monsters that stalk. They only get close when you’re stable and not panicked  
A Guy That I’d Kinda Be Into (Reprise) - cyborgs  
The Smartphone Hour (Rich Set a Fire) - mangled, burnt corpses  
The Pants Song - going in pairs (think bioshock with the big daddies and little sisters)  
The Pitiful Children - creepy happy normal looking people. You have to pretend to be one to get past  
The Play - fairy like zombies, including with wings  
Voices in My Head - Squip itself... maybe


	6. New Feature Unlocked: Two Player Game

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, Ari here.
> 
> Hope you're having a wonderful day, because these folks ain't having a good one. :') We get to more meat of Hard Mode, and some reunions. Hopefully things will end well for these boys, aaah.
> 
> And now, a few words from Mara:
> 
> 'Hey lovelies! Finally, a day off! After so many late shifts, I’m totally dead so a day off is appreciated. I’m back to work again tomorrow, but today you get some more substantial notes!
> 
> So! Things are heating up in the arcade, and getting more dangerous than ever. And with Jeremy... as he is... well, the situation hasn’t looked worse for him or Michael. Still, soon they’ll be together again and things will be okay, right? Enjoy!'

He was going to die.

Michael knew he was almost out of sanity. The world was too shaky and too red tinged and too unstable for him to be alright. The last level, with its stalking monsters and anxiety-inducing audio just sucked the last of it away. And he had no more supplies, he'd run out of food and water before the last level, and he'd used the last of his sanity potion before entering the maze.

Michael was going to die.

The cyborg zombies had backed him into a corner, locked him literally in the closet, and he saw no escape.

He was going to die.

Michael stayed curled up within himself. He had fucked up. Everything was going to fail because of him.

He was going to die.

He knew it, even if he hadn't accepted it yet. Michael couldn't help but whimper and cry as he kept the closet shut, lingering onto life for at least a little while longer.

This wasn't how he wanted to go out. He wanted it to be with a loving husband, preferably Jeremy, and Honey and other pets with a job he loved and in a nice home. Michael wasn't sure what he wanted to do yet, but he wanted to help people.

He couldn't even fucking help people and now he was going to die because of it!

Michael heard the sound cue for a cyborg coming into view. From the crack in the door of the closet, Michael could see it slowly jogging into view and coming to a halt in line with the closet door.

It looked at the door curiously before stalking towards it. Nonononono why was it coming closer? It was programmed not to see people in closets and behind wooden things. That was the trick for this level. Why was it coming closer?

Michael was going to die.

"I'm so sorry Jeremy, I failed you," Michael almost sobbed, trying to keep his voice as quiet as possible. "I didn't keep my promise of being able t'see you again outta here. 'M so sorry, I'm sorry, I lost."

The doors swung open and the cyborg regarded him coldly. Slowly, it reached towards him, reaching for his face.

He really _was_ going to die.

Well, if he was going to die, he had to get it all out before he got killed.

"I wish I had been able to let Jeremy know how I really felt," he whimpered out as he tried curling up as much as he could. "I wish I had been able to be there more for my moms a-and Mr. Heere. I wish I had been better. I wish I had given Honey more playtime. I wish I let Jeremy knew how amazing he is as a person s-so he didn't hate himself. I wish I could have shown him how- how much I love him." Michael hiccuped as the cyborg almost touched his face.

"I wish I helped him learn how much he deserves love."

The touch to his face was surprisingly gentle, almost hesitant, and it was _warm_. He knew the cyborgs were cold, one had grabbed him earlier, so what was going on?

The world shimmered as the cyborg crouched down next to him, shifting so it was in the closet and the door closed. Then, the cyborg was gone and Jeremy was smiling softly down at Michael. His hair was pushed back by a bandanna, and Michael could just about see the black tank top and fingerless gloves.

"I love you too, Mikey."

Michael gasped, sure his body was shaking. "I- you- _Jeremy_?" How did Jeremy get here? Didn't he tell him to not come in? Why was he here? How did he-

Jeremy cut off those thoughts by scooping Michael into his arms, holding him close and kissing him hard on the lips. His touch, though needy, was sweet and allowed Michael to escape if he really wanted to, but he didn't. He hadn't been touched in a safe, gentle way since getting into the game. He _needed_ this. Also _Jeremy_ _was_ _kissing_ _him_. For the first time!

Wrapping his arms around Jeremy and pulling him closer, Michael did his best to kiss back. Jeremy had more experience than him, so he knew what he was doing, but that didn't mean that Michael couldn't try. He wanted to because _Jeremy was still kissing him_.

Eventually, Jeremy pulled back to just rest their foreheads together. His eyes were closed and he looked so peaceful that Michael almost forgot where they were.

"I've missed you so much, Mikey. But I've got you now, you're gonna be fine,” he promised through his soft pants.

Michael didn't want to argue. He wanted to know how Jeremy got here, how he knew where to find Michael, along with so many other things.

But he didn't want to ruin this moment most of all, so he just hummed as he felt tears falling down his cheeks. "God, I missed you so much."

"I'm glad I found you when I did. Your levels were almost out across the board, and any longer and you would have thrown yourself at the nearest cyborg..." Jeremy mused softly, eyes opening and glancing upwards, above Michael's head. "I found the safe room, let's get there and refresh you. It's not far, I promise."

"Wait, how can you see my levels now? We're in the game," Michael muttered, unable to help but frown in confusion. The world was still shaky, but Jeremy was clear and there and he gladly focused on him instead of their surroundings.

"Cheat code before I came in. I've got lots of stuff to refresh you, so don't worry. I promise you're gonna be fine. Just stay close." Jeremy pecked his lips quickly. "Do you think you can move or do we need to crack open a med kit now?"

Michael tried to move but hissed. Right, part of the reason he got in here was because he was hobbling a bit. "Med kit please."

Jeremy nodded and reached his hand out to the side. It vanished and his eyes focused on the spot where it disappeared before pulling back to show a health potion. He uncorked it and offered it to Michael.

"Wait- you-" He stopped his questions, figuring it was a short cut or another cheat code. Michael took the potion and quickly downed it.

"I'll teach you in the safe room, it's a part of the base game,” he promised. "Just a short cut combo. Key bind basically."

When Michael finished the potion, Jeremy glanced upwards again. "Okay, you're a little below half health right now, and I've stabilized your sanity at over twenty five percent. I'd give you more, but my debuff wouldn't allow it,” he mused softly. "We can crack into the potions once we're safe, though. This will do for now."

"Alright. Thanks, Remy." Michael took Jeremy's hand then, intertwining their fingers as Jeremy helped him stand. He gave Jeremy a smile before glancing over at the closet door. "How far away is the safe room from here?"

"Two corners. And I managed to lure away most of the cyborgs to the start of the maze before coming to get you."

"My hero," he cooed, playfully leaning his head on Jeremy's shoulder, though he meant it too. "Lead the way."

For the first time in a long while, the door to the safe room wasn't slammed shut, and there were no monsters trying to break in.

Jeremy instantly guided Michael to the bed and pulled off his backpack. After pulling off his own backpack, Jeremy pulled out a whole mess of food and water and medkits and sanity potions, splitting them into three piles, one of which was in Michael's lap. "Eat. Drink. You need to recover,” he insisted as he worked, occasionally glancing upwards to above his own head with a frown.

"Alright, but you need to explain what's going on after," Michael said as he took one of the- wait, were these... fruit bars? What the hell? He had only found granola bars in previous safe rooms. And flavored water? What?

Regardless, Michael ate and drank, feeling himself get better with each bite and sip.

"I didn't have a choice with coming in, so everyone else gave me as much help as they could. _And_ I collected as much loot as I could to make sure we'd have enough for when I caught up. I had to start from the beginning of the game, so I got _everything_ I could,” Jeremy explained, putting one of the piles into Michael's backpack.

Michael couldn't help but frown at that, looking at Jeremy as he waved his half-eaten fruit bar. "How did you get so much though? Every time I'd gone into a safe room, I never got this much. What I got dwindled as I got further up, and I've gotten jack shit down here."

"There were loot boxes in every level." Jeremy nodded. "And the amount of loot in the safe rooms is dictated by your sanity, so the longer you're in the game, the worse off you are."

Wait... "Loot boxes? In every level?... There were pick-ups that I didn't know about?! You could scavenge?!"

"Yeah..." Jeremy looked a little sheepish. "Derek found them all in his run for the first seven levels, so he'd tell me where to look while I was in each safe room."

Derek... Wasn't that the name of one of the workers, the one that sold them the slushies? Wait, did that mean... OK, no, focus on one thing at a time. "And how did you get here so quick? I'm assuming I haven't been in here for _too_ long, even if my concept and perception of time have started to get all fucked up."

"It's been hours, hun." Jeremy shook his head. "You've been in the game almost a full forty eight hours by now, and I've been in here for almost a full day. I got here quick thanks to everyone else giving me tips and searching through the manual. Rich has a basic level of understanding Japanese so he translated what I needed to know. It's just been the Hard Mode levels that I've been playing blind on, and even then, they've been watching you and helping me that way."

Jeremy hesitated, then reached over and turned on the TV. Several faces appeared on it, all looking relieved. It helped distract Michael from the sight of Jeremy's body standing next to his own, face just as blank and empty.

He focused in on Christine, who waved and grinned, even if she looked exhausted. "Hey, they're together! Hi Michael, hi Jeremy!"

Michael wasn't sure if they could 'hear' him like how Jeremy could when he went down the elevator. "Hiya," he muttered in a testing manner as he waved.

"Hi. Good to see you're alright now, Michael." Michael recognized that guy as Marshal, Christine's step-brother. He sounded genuinely relieved. "Looks like Jeremy got to you just in time. We weren't sure if he'd make it, even with all the help we've been giving..."

"Well, we're okay now." Jeremy smiled. "Do you have a count on my debuff? It still won't show for me."

"Nope." Rich shook his head. "Seems to be permanent for now, but you both do have the Teamwork buff now. Your sanity will go down slower so long as you're together."

"Well that's good at least," Michael murmured, looking over the five people there. "Did... Jeremy said I freed all the employees. I'm guessing that everyone, excluding Christine, falls under that category... I'm glad you guys are saved. I can't even imagine what you guys went through under the stupid demon's control."

"It's called the SQUIP. I think it basically made the name of the game using words that vaguely matched its name,” Dustin Kropp added from behind Marshal. Damn, he was tall.

"You saved us, Michael. We just wish we could do more to help, both you and Jeremy. Especially since we couldn't keep Jeremy from going in." Derek sounded ashamed, but Jeremy huffed.

"As if you could keep me out once I knew there was a possibility for me to help him. I would have come in here, even without the pressure."

"You guys have helped out a bunch, thank you. And yeah, I told you not to come in, you dingus." Michael playfully tugged on Jeremy's ear, feeling more alive than he had since he metaphorically stepped foot into this game. "Don't put yourself in danger after this, y'hear me?"

"To be fair, I didn't exactly have a choice. It was this or being restrained. This is the much safer option." Jeremy shrugged. "But _fine_, I'll do my best to not put myself in danger."

"I mean, you saved my life, so I'll excuse it this time, but no more danger."

"I'll do my best." Jeremy nodded solemnly.

"OK, good." Michael sat up a bit after letting go of Jeremy's ear. "Also, uh, what debuff are you talking about? And why would you need to have been restrained if you didn't come in here?"

Jeremy ducked his head and looked away.

"He has a debuff called 'Get It Out.’ It's a permanent drain on his sanity levels,” Christine clarified. "We think it happened because of why he had to join. SQUIP was in his head, and it was literally driving him mad. He was starting to get dangerous to himself."

"I lost my little brother to the same thing. I wasn't about to let Jeremy risk himself in case it happened to him too," Derek added.

Michael's throat tightened at that. So the thing, SQUIP, hadn't been lying before about Jeremy wanting to join and play. "Well, you'll be out of here soon enough and then you won't have to worry about that again." He made a mental note for Jeremy to get more of the sanity potions.

Jeremy rubbed at his bare arms. "I can still feel it in my head. That's why I have the debuff." He shivered a little. "I- er- I shared some of my sanity with you when I first found you, so that's why I'm a little... out of it right now. I didn't want to dip into our stocks too fast, considering I need a constant stream of them."

"I understand. At least the rate'll slow down since we're together," Michael said as he took Jeremy's hand. "Also, you said that you can't see the debuff but can see other stuff... Can you see our bars or something?"

Jeremy squeezed Michael's hand and nodded. "Yeah! It was a cheat code Rich found before I connected. I input it, so I can see our bars as well as the health bar and name of every enemy. That's one of the reasons I made it through so quickly."

"That... that's amazing. I'm probably going to rely on that a bit," Michael somewhat teased with a grin before squeezing Jeremy's hand back. "Also... you called me 'hun.'"

"I did?" Jeremy asked, his cheeks going red. The others started cooing over him.

"His sprite has got little hearts floating around him, how adorable!"

Michael couldn't help but laugh at Christine's comment. "That _is_ adorable." He didn't hesitate as he bent down to kiss Jeremy's cheek.

Jeremy cheeks's blushed darker and he hid his face in his hands. One of the sprite hearts actually appeared nearby, floating around a little before landing in Michael's lap. It had writing on it. 'Player 2's Heart' as well as a health bar on it. It was almost totally full.

Picking up the heart with his now-free hands, Michael carefully held the heart before showing it over to Jeremy. "I think this is yours. I didn't mean to steal it."

Jeremy spluttered a little, going even redder. Michael thought he might have heard Dustin mutter 'smooth.’ He sounded impressed.

Jeremy pushed the little heart back to Michael. "S'yours. Might be mine but it's yours,” he insisted quietly, hiding his face again a moment later.

It took Michael a second to realize that he had accidentally flirted with Jeremy. His own cheeks warmed up as he put his little heart into his pocket. "Thank you."

Even if he couldn't see the heart anymore, he had a good sense of the levels somehow. He could just... tell what Jeremy's HP was. That was going to come in handy.

Jeremy scooted closer and leaned against Michael, almost flinching when Michael put his arm around him. "Sorry, I had just... gotten used to not being hugged already. I blame SQUIP for messing with my head."

"I blame it too for so many things." Michael kept Jeremy close before letting out a sigh. "Hopefully, we'll be out soon and be able to finish our date properly."

"Yeah." Jeremy's voice cracked. "Not at the arcade." Michael chuckled at that.

"As much as I'm loving the cute and tender moment you have going on here," Rich interrupted them, "You can't stay there much longer. There's a pop up in Japanese that says the SQUIP is coming. You only have a couple of minutes before it gets there, and I don't want to know what happens if it catches Jeremy while he's got that debuff. It seemed to hint at something during the intro."

"It's _still_ following? I thought that was only for the first level, god damn." Michael put the pile next to Jeremy's backpack in there, making sure all the potions, bars, and bottles got in along with the few batteries. "OK, there shouldn't be too many levels left. We can do this."

"There are five levels of hard mode left. You guys are so close." Marshal sounded proud.

"Okay, before we go. To quickly access your inventory, just focus on what you want and stick your hand out to the side. If it's in your backpack, you can grab it." Jeremy nodded, checking his backpack once and slipping it on.

Michael thought about his flashlight in his backpack. He reached to the side, surprised to grab it and pull it seemingly out of thin air. "My god, that's amazing." Looking to the ladder, Michael took Jeremy's hand again and squeezed it. "I'm ready for us to kick this game's ass."

Jeremy grinned and nodded, but it seemed a little forced. "You two have this. We'll talk when you get to the next safe room. Good luck." The TV switched itself off.

"I'll go up first so I can see what we're up against, give you the stats."

"Alright, I'll be right behind you," Michael said as he walked over with him to the exit.

SQUIP arrived in the safe room a few minutes after the boys had left. It smiled as it noticed the missed loot, including the sanity potions Jeremy had totally not seen. He'd been missing a lot of those, which was why he had so few to share.

The pieces were falling into place. Soon enough, SQUIP would be free of this tiny, virtual world and finally able to exert its true potential. It picked up the small remains of a food item, tossing it aside.

Soon, Michael would belong to the machine, and Jeremy wouldn't be far behind. Where one went, the other soon followed.

And if Michael _did_ escape, well SQUIP had planned for that too. Jeremy would make such a sweet toy for it to play with in the meantime.

After lingering for a moment, SQUIP continued on. It wasn't in any rush. Its toys would get into their poses soon enough, and that's when SQUIP would take them once and for all.

Michael could totally get through this. Jeremy made it a lot easier. They had each other's back. They always had each other's backs.

Holding Jeremy's hand, he smiled as he walked through the eerily 'happy' themed floor. They had to pretend to be one of those smiling, happy 'people' in the level to get by. Easy. He faked that a lot of the time at school, and Jeremy did too, he knew that. School could be hell.

Something about Jeremy’s smile seemed... off, though. It was too wide, and Michael could see the edge of panic in his eyes. Time for a sanity potion at the next safe room for sure.

When one of the people came over and talked to them, Jeremy instantly took charge, matching their tone and mannerisms almost too well. Michael might not have a direct line to his sanity like he did his health, but he could tell this was draining him even quicker than normal. They needed to find the exit, and fast.

Michael was sure to tug Jeremy along a little quicker once they turned away from someone. The next time one of those people came over, Michael took over and matched them before leaving.

It didn't take long for him to get through to the safe room, and he instantly pulled out a sanity potion and made Jeremy drink it.

When he turned on the TV, their team’s faces were grim. “His debuff has gotten worse. It’s draining him twice as fast as when he started the game, and I think it’s only gonna get worse the closer to the final boss you get. After this room, he might even have to start having the potions during the level itself,” Derek hummed, eyes dark and worried.

"I was worried about that. There's only two more left after this, right?" They all nodded. "Alright, we can do this then." Michael then proceeded to look around for more supplies. They always took what they could.

Luckily there was always a number of supplies in the room ever since Jeremy’s joined him. Michael was never scrounging for scraps when he had his best friend with him.

“Here.” Jeremy put a few granola bars and some bottles of water on the bed. “We should eat and then go.”

"Yeah, for sure. Just lemme- aha!" Michael yanked out a few sanity potions. Normally, Jeremy did the searching. Good thing he got to find these. "Have another sanity potion on-hand," he said as he put it down beside Jeremy. The rest went into his backpack before he sat down and took a bar, ripping open the wrapper before eating.

Jeremy hesitated, then put the potion away. He grabbed a granola bar with chocolate chips and started eating.

“Uh, guys? Jeremy just developed another debuff...” Christine sounded worried.

Michael looked over at the TV, at Jeremy, then back at the TV. "Uh... What debuff?"

“Paranoia.”

“What? I’m not paranoid,” Jeremy grumbled around his mouthful. “The potions just taste funny is all.”

"Wait." Michael took the potion Jeremy just put away, looking it over. The blue potions were always for sanity in this game, red for health. This was a blue potion, so why was he paranoid about it besides its taste?

Jeremy made a face when he saw it, but he kept eating without really seeming to care. Michael could tell, though, that the potion being out was causing him anxiety.

After quickly putting it away, Michael sighed and ate another bite of his granola bar. "Well, are there any other debuffs? Any new updates?"

“No, you guys seem to be doing alright otherwise. It just seems like SQUIP is really taking it out on Jeremy right now.”

“I feel fine! Just a little squirmy, like I have this whole time!” Jeremy protested. “I’m not paranoid!”

"It's fine to feel squirmy, I've felt squirmy throughout all of this," Michael assured Jeremy before drinking half of a bottle of water in one go.

“Jeremy, you should have another potion before you go,” Derek recommended as Jeremy finished off his own water. “It might be enough to last you to next safe room.”

Jeremy’s eyes widened and his face got a little paler but he tried to play it cool.

“I think I’ll be fine. My levels aren’t even that low. Still over twenty-five percent, almost up to fifty.”

"But you drain quicker than I do, Remy." Michael took Jeremy's hand, his free one, and gently squeezed it. "It'll be fine, I promise you.”

Jeremy huffed. “I don’t like them, though. They taste... funny. And they make my head feel weird.”

"How about I take one too?"

Jeremy shook his head, almost scared by the idea. Ah, so there was the paranoia. SQUIP was making him scared of sanity potions.

"It's only helped us before." Michael squeezed his head again as he gave Jeremy a smile, trying to be reassuring but firm in his tone. "Hey, if you don't take one, we can't share our sanity with each other to help each other out. Then we'll run out of sanity. We need to take them, but I promise you that we'll be fine."

Michael knew it was a bit of a dirty play, but if it helped Jeremy, he didn’t care.

Jeremy puffed out his cheeks before pulling out a blue potion and downing it in one shot, shivering for a moment after he did so.

“It feels like I’m letting it into my head more.”

"You’re not, I promise you." He poked Jeremy's side. "Whenever I tell you to take one, you need to, yeah? Otherwise we're fucked in the long run."

Jeremy looked up at Michael, a battle going on behind his eyes, before he nodded with a sigh. “Okay, Mikey, I trust you.”

Michael felt relieved as he smiled. "I trust you too, Remy." After a second of consideration, he bent down and kissed Jeremy's forehead. "We should finish eating and drinking then just go."

“Yeah, that sounds good.” Jeremy nodded.

“You guys have time, we’ll let you know when it gets close,” Rich assured them. Michael got back to eating. They’d need their strength.


	7. The Final Level

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, Ari here!
> 
> The chapter’s being posted earlier today because today is so crazy for me. So very short notes. 
> 
> Today is the final level for the boys. How will they fare? Let’s see!
> 
> And now, a few words from Mara:
> 
> ‘Hey lovelies! This chapter marks the end of the journey in the game. They’ve reached the final level! Time to beat the boss and escape! Or, that’s the plan anyways...’

This was it. All that was left was the final boss battle. Michael had an idea who it would be against.

"You guys should refill with everything you guys have." Derek advised as the two of them settled on the bed, putting their backpacks into their laps. "Maybe save a sanity potion and a health potion. You guys have enough to have those things leftover for during the battle, right?"

“Yeah, we should be alright on those.” Jeremy nodded, squirming. His paranoia debuff had him distrusting all the consumables at this point, so Michael knew he’d have to tell Jeremy directly. “We have loads, honestly. More than we probably need...”

"Well, it's better to be safe than sorry. I'd rather have more than enough than not enough," Michael said as he took out a few granola bars and water bottles for them to share, along with two sanity potions.

Jeremy looked a little queasy, but he did start eating at Michael’s prompting.

“So we don’t know directly what the final boss is, but we have a decent idea. SQUIP isn’t approaching your room at all. It’s ahead of you now.” Rich nodded, checking a panel off screen.

"Yeah, I figured we'd be fighting it. It's giving us one last fight before we fuck off," Michael said before chewing some of the granola bar. _God_, he couldn't wait to never eat granola or fruit bars again.

Dustin laughed. “Your face is visible even with the pixel art, Michael. You want me to whip you something up for when you get out? We only have chicken tenders and slushes really, but I-“

"Dear god, _please_. I fucking miss slushies and chicken tendies," he almost begged. "Oh, sorry for cutting you off... But please, and thank you."

Dustin chuckled. “I’ll make sure that’s all sorted when you get out, then.”

Marshal grinned at the TV. “You’ve got him all sentimental, somehow. He’s gonna be taking care of you whether you want him to or not at this point.” His tone was fond, adoring even. It was clear that Marshal was head over heels for Dustin. Michael was happy for them, especially since they were now safe.

“I’m adopting them for sure.” Derek added, nodding. “We can all take joint custody of the big brother role.”

"You guys are all weird, and that's saying something when it's coming from me," Christine playfully grumbled. She bent down before picking up Honey, who was whimpering and whining. "She wants to say hi-"

"Oh my god, hello, my precious little bean," Michael cooed, grinning as he bent down by the TV screen. "I'm sorry I've been gone, we'll both be back really soon."

“Hey baby girl, you’ve been so brave.” Jeremy bent down too, reaching out to poke the screen. Honey yipped softly. “Yes you have! I’m so proud of you. We’re gonna be home real soon, okay? Then we can all cuddle up and have a nap.” Honey’s tail wagged furiously at that.

"Wait, aren't our voices just text boxes right now? She can't read... can she?"

“Considering she literally told me that you ditching me on our date was utter shit, it wouldn’t surprise me.” Jeremy sighed happily. Honey barked proudly.

“Well there is music playing, and it’s calming and the sprites are clearer than normal. Maybe there is even audio and we just can’t hear it.” Rich shrugged. “Dogs can hear like, ten times better than we can.”

"Maybe she can. Dogs are better than most people," Michael stated resolutely, nodding before cooing at Honey. "Also, how did she tell you that?"

“I was pouring my heart out to her, then she sneezed and shook her head. Then she went and took a massive shit in someone’s front lawn. I didn’t get it at the time, but hindsight is twenty-twenty.” Jeremy shrugged. Honey looked especially proud.

Michael burst out laughing, even leaning his head back as he did so. “Oh my god, I love you so much, Honey.”

It felt good to laugh so hard, and the giggles from everyone else only boosted the good feelings. He missed these sort of moments since being trapped. He’d have to make sure to have lots of fun and relaxing moments after everyone was safe.

Jeremy tapped Michael’s arm after a moment. “Mikey... I don’t think I can drink this. It’s... sparking.” He held up the sanity potion.

“Wait, really? Your levels aren’t that low that you shouldn’t be hallucinating...” Marshal trailed off, confused and worried.

“It’s... sparkling?” Michael frowned as he took the sanity potion, raising it and looking it over.

It seemed fine, the same as ever. His paranoia must have been getting worse. Jeremy kept glancing up at the potion, then looking away, as though scared by it but also curious.

“It... it doesn’t look to be sparkling.” Michael shifted it around to be sure. Nope, no sparkles. “Maybe it’s just the lighting and your glasses making it look that way.”

“It _is_ though,” Jeremy insisted softly.

Christine grabbed Michael’s attention on the TV screen. She sort of indicated to where Michael knew the bars were on the screen, then pointed to Jeremy and gave a thumbs down. Michael (somehow) managed to translate that to mean that Jeremy’s debuff was getting worse, and he really needed the potion.

“Is this one sparkling too?” Michael held up the one saved for himself to take. Jeremy nodded. “Well, nothing’s happened to these potions in the levels. I’m going to take one, you can see that it’s fine, then you can take one. If we don’t take them, we won’t be able to get through this fight.”

“I-... okay. Please be careful, though. I can’t do this without you and I don’t want you getting shocked.”

“I’ll be careful, I promise,” Michael assured him before downing the potion. He felt his sanity go up as the world became clearer and a bit more stable. “See? I’m fine.” He gave Jeremy back his potion. “I promise that it’ll only help.”

Jeremy took the bottle and looked at it with anticipation. “I-“

“Just drink the potion, Remy, please. It’ll be fine, I promise.”

As soon as Michael said that, Jeremy uncorked the bottle and downed it in one go. He seemed almost confused by his actions, but the nervous look in his eyes faded somewhat as the world probably stabilized.

“How are you feeling? A bit better?” Michael asked as he opened his water bottle and drank half of it in one go.

“Better,” Jeremy panted, taking his own water bottle. “I know I was lower, but damn if these debuffs aren’t messing with me.” He huffed before drinking.

“At least we’re almost done. Just the boss and then we’re out.” He had to look at the positives here. They needed to be positive going through this last boss, especially since they didn’t know what to expect. “Then we can go finish our date properly.”

“After a nap, I think.” Jeremy nodded. “I hadn’t slept properly in days before this, and I’m sure we’ll be tired once we get out.”

Michael nodded in agreement. “Yeah, I can only imagine how tired we’re gonna be.”

“Not looking forward to that.” Jeremy nodded again, finishing off his water. “So, er, all our levels are full. You ready?”

“Yeah, I am.” Making sure that he had his trusty knife ready, Michael got up from the bed and waved to everyone on screen. “See you guys soon.” He turned off the TV after everyone waved before walking over to the ladder leading up to the lobby.

This was it. They could do this. They had this!

Jeremy followed after Michael, fidgeting nervously. He also pulled out his knife. “I’m so glad my character knows how to use this, because I was pretty useless in real life with one.”

Michael couldn’t help but laugh. “Same. I wonder if the skill will transfer over and we can do those cool knife tricks,” he posed as he started up the ladder to the trap door above.

“Let’s not. I don’t think I can even chop an apple without feeling traumatized.”

“I’ll cut them up for you then since apples are the shit.” With that, Michael opened the top of the trap door, peering out before climbing out into the dimly-lit lobby.

Jeremy followed him, then pointed to a large wooden door. It looked locked shut. “That’s our way out.”

As he said that, a gigantic form appeared behind him, looming over the still oblivious Jeremy.

Michael quickly grabbed Jeremy’s arm, yanking him back and by his side as he backed up. “After we beat this asshole.”

“Wha-!” Jeremy yelped as he was tugged over, but he quickly recovered, holding his knife defensively.

“Congratulation boys! You’ve made it to the final level. If you win, the door opens and you’re able to leave.” The demon grinned.

“Thanks for the heads up, sir,” Jeremy growled, then froze. His glare doubled at the SQUIP. “Get out of my head and stop censoring me!”

“But Jeremy, where’s the fun in that?” SQUIP grinned.

Michael held onto Jeremy before holding his own knife out in a defensive position. “It’s just trying to mess with us and enjoy the last of its power before it’s gone for good,” he assured Jeremy. “Enjoy your last few moments of fuckery before it’s just all gone. It ends here for you.” God, that felt super cheesy and protagonist-like. Was SQUIP still affecting him too? No, focus.

“That is, _if_ you win.” SQUIP smirked, crossing its arms. Michael couldn’t see where its legs were, they were somehow off under the floor. Video game logic. “If you lose, then you stay with me forever. I do so look forward to playing with you both. You will make such wonderful dolls.”

“Yeah no, it’ll be some nice thoughts for you to mull over before you’re killed by us,” Michael quipped back as he tried to see any weak points ahead of time.

Before he could identify anything, Michael felt a tug on his tank top. “Mikey, SQU- the de- the final boss is in my head. It’s trying to make me think things,” Jeremy whispered, sounding scared.

"What's it trying to make you think?" Michael asked, hiding his worry as best he could as he still stood ready in case SQUIP tried anything first.

“It wants me to... play,” Jeremy replied, almost tripping on the word. “I don’t know what that means but that’s what it’s saying. It’s in my head.”

SQUIP seemed content to just watch on, amusement in its eyes and smirk.

He felt his chest tighten in annoyance as he glanced over at Jeremy and SQUIP. "It's trying to trip you up."

Jeremy nodded and scowled at SQUIP, his face set with determination.

“Are you boys ready?” SQUIP asked. Jeremy nodded and looked over to Michael.

"Yeah, we are," Michael said as he kept his grip tight on his knife.

“Then the battle commences.”

SQUIP raised a massive hand and slammed it down, sweeping it across the ground straight towards Michael and Jeremy.

The both of them got into battle mode. This kind of stuff, thanks to their expertise on boss battles, was easy. They jumped over his hand, and Michael took a chance of slashing across the expanse of its large hand as it passed by under them.

"That's a no-go,” Jeremy called, ducking under the swipe that went over their head. "Try for the glowy one!" One of SQUIP's hands started sweeping across the floor again, but that one had blue circuitry on it. It _had_ to be a weak spot.

"Thanks for the call," Michael said as he jumped over and across the hand, slashing across that hand now before landing firmly on his feet.

SQUIP jerked it back with a thunderous yell and Jeremy cheered. "That got it! Go for the glow!"

"Hell yeah. I didn't think it would have such an obvious weak point," Michael murmured the second bit before looking for the next glowing weak spot.

SQUIP kept sweeping its hands in obvious patterns, like a proper video game boss. Two more goes at the glowy hand and SQUIP shifted its position. It loomed over them, slamming its hand down where Jeremy was. He rolled out of the way, but it was close.

Michael got a bad feeling from all of this. SQUIP was adaptive and intellectual. Why was it following the proper, obvious patterns of a boss? Wouldn't it be trickier and sly? He kept those thoughts to himself as he waited until he rolled out of the way of SQUIP's slamming, slashing at the glowing hand it had.

Once again, SQUIP yelled and pulled back its hand. Okay, this was probably a three lots of three setup. Most bosses had those rules and since SQUIP was being oh-so predictable (worryingly so), Michael assumed it would follow those rules too.

Jeremy stumbled in his attempt to avoid the next strike, and got smushed underneath SQUIP's hand. He didn't get up straight away after it was removed, and Michael could see that the single hit dropped him from full health down to one quarter. Shit.

"Remy, don't forget your health potion!" Michael called out as he tried to lead SQUIP's attacks away from Jeremy and after him.

Jeremy groaned and reached his hand to the side, his movements shaky and weak. SQUIP took the bait for this next attack, luckily, and tried to squash Michael. It wasn't a glowy hand so Michael didn't take a swipe at it, but it did mean Jeremy had enough time to get to his feet.

From the corner of his vision, Michael saw Jeremy drinking the health potion. Michael managed to bait another attack after himself then, purposefully 'almost getting hit' to give SQUIP some satisfaction to continue going after him.

It didn't take the bait this time, its glowy hand going straight for Jeremy. He rolled out the way, slashing at it with his knife, but half the potion spilled. He was left at half health, panting hard and shivering. He darted over to Michael in the few moments they had before SQUIP continued.

"Here," Michael offered, reaching, after avoiding being smushed, into his backpack through the shortcut and handing him the potion. "You got this, wait until I tell you."

Jeremy nodded, and they dodged another attack. As Michael slashed SQUIP's glowing hand, he almost shouted, "Now!"

Jeremy downed the potion, his health restoring to almost full. He was still shivering though, which got Michael worried.

SQUIP pulled back into the darkness above them, vanishing for now.

Michael kept an eye out for it as he asked, "What's wrong, Remy?"

Jeremy shook his head, eyes darting around wildly. He looked up, trying to see where SQUIP was.

Cables dropped down from the darkness and SQUIP's face came into view. Every few seconds, one of the outer cables sparked and sent a wave of electricity across the ground which Michael instinctively jumped over. Jeremy did too, but it was close. SQUIP's face seemed to be the glowy part this time.

"Remy, I need to know why you're shivering," Michael said as he jumped over the waves with Jeremy, inching closer to SQUIP's face to slash at.  
  
  


Jeremy seemed to be struck mute as he grabbed the cable closest to SQUIP and started climbing it. He jumped to the cable on the other side when the sparks started running down the first.

Michael waited until he could grab the cable before climbing up it and avoiding the wave. He made sure to keep track of the sparks, switching cables along with Jeremy. "Remy, you need to talk to me."

Jeremy got close to SQUIP's face and slashed at it. SQUIP reeled back and the boys dropped lightly to the floor, pushed off the cables. Jeremy's shivering got worse and he started tugging at his hair, eyes distant and panicked.

Oh. _Oh_. Michael instantly pulled out a sanity potion, going to Jeremy and putting the open potion to his lips. "Drink it all, please."

Jeremy downed it so quickly that he almost choked, spluttering a little as he pulled it back. He was still shivering, but it wasn't as bad as before.

Michael knew he had two more left, so he took out the last one and had Jeremy drink that before SQUIP seemed to regain itself. "There we go," he said as he got his knife ready again.

Jeremy nodded his thanks. "It's gotten worse. And the... the final boss is louder." He grabbed onto the cable, switching quickly as the first set of shocks traveled down it.

He followed Jeremy up the cables as he glanced between the cables, Jeremy, and SQUIP. It was planning something. Did it have a secret stage or boss upgrade? "Just try to push through it for now, we're almost done."

Jeremy nodded and slashed at SQUIP's face a moment later. He pressed himself close to Michael as they landed on the ground, with SQUIP flailing backwards.

Michael held him close, helping him stand up quick. "Can you give me out base stats right now before SQUIP gets back up?"

"You're at full health and your sanity is at... eighty percent. I'm at... ninety percent health and fifty percent sanity. And falling."

"I have one more sanity potion, I know you do too. You should take it now," Michael told Jeremy.

Jeremy nodded and pulled out his potion. SQUIP reappeared and started the shocks already, not giving Jeremy a chance to drink it. "You go, I'll just avoid the shocks." He nodded, jumping over the first set and uncorking the potion.

"Alright." With a smile thrown Jeremy's way, Michael hurried ahead, jumping over shocks and getting himself quickly onto one of the cables. He was sure to avoid any shocks, getting antsy from how easy this was. There should have been something else happening, right? This was too easy!

Even as he slashed at SQUIP's face and fell to the floor, he had a terrible feeling that it wasn't over. Jeremy rushed over to him, looking more stable.

"It's health is gone, and the door just unlocked. Since it's just code, it'll reset as soon as the game is booted up again, so we need to get out of here before-" A chunk of rock just landed next to them. "Before the level collapses!"

This was too easy. "Yeah, start heading over!" Michael got up as he almost shouted that. "Go, I'm right behind you!"

Jeremy shook his head and took Michael's hand. "Not without you! I'm not leaving you again!"

"Alright. Let's hurry over!" Michael insisted as he started booking it for the door, Jeremy right by his side. He squeezed Jeremy's hand as they started making a break for the exit.

Jeremy shot him a grin, pulling him out of the way of some falling debris. Michael could almost see the sanity returning to him as they ran, which meant they really_ could_ leave. Wherever SQUIP went, it must have genuinely lost this round, even if it wasn't the_ final _round.

He caught sight of the door, about to step through, when there was a sudden bit of debris that fell from the ceiling. Gasping, Michael was a second too late and Jeremy let go of his hand, pushing him forward and through the now-open doorway. Michael's eyes were wide as he saw Jeremy vanish as light enveloped him, and the last thought he had before the light completely enveloped Michael up was that he hoped Jeremy made it through right after him.

Jeremy lunged for the door, literally throwing himself towards the light, but something held him back. Cloth spun around him, wrapping around his face and suffocating him. He couldn't breathe!

His arms still outstretched to the light, Jeremy could only watch as he was pulled back.

He needed to get out! He needed to breathe! He couldn't breathe. Darkness was enveloping him and he couldn't breathe! Help! Michael! Jeremy couldn't-...

He didn't need to breathe. He needed to wait. Pretty little dolls didn't need to breathe.

Michael gasped as he felt himself literally tossed back into his body somehow, knocking him back onto his ass. Everyone around him shouted at first, and he heard them all back up as his ass connected with the carpet underneath- Wait, the carpet…

He was really back? This wasn't a trick?

A strong pair of hands grabbed under his arms, pulling him to his feet. He was left face to face with Rich, who was holding a knife to his throat as someone held him still from behind.

"Michael?" Rich asked slowly, eyes darting all over his face. Everyone else crowded around, even Christine, waiting in case they needed to do anything.

"Yes, it's me, Michael Vsauce here," Michael stammered out. Hey, sue him, he was going from one traumatic thing to the next! He couldn't help how he shook in whoever's hold as Honey barked and whimpered for Michael from Christine's arms.

Rich sighed and stepped back and Christine let Honey down, who instantly started jumping at Michael's legs, barking and whining excitedly. Whoever was holding him let Michael go as well, stepping back to give him some room.

Michael let himself catch his breath as he knelt down, letting Honey jump against his chest and lick his face. "Hi there, Honey, I'm so sorry I went away, I missed you so much," he told her as he held her close, pressing a multitude of kisses across her chubby cheeks.

Honey whined and just nuzzled against him, climbing into his lap and trying to curl against his chest.

His happy moment was cut off when Jeremy, or Jeremy's body, spoke.

"Well done, Michael. You got out." SQUIP's voice was layered with Jeremy's, and he remained facing the screen, not turning to look at any of them. The crowd instantly parted, stepping away from the cabinet.

Eyes wide, Michael turned around and stared at Jeremy's body. "You- What the hell did you do to him?! We made a fucking deal!" Honey started growling and barked at the cabinet and Jeremy's body.

"We did. And you haven't beaten the game. I was feeling generous and let you out anyway. Jeremy wasn't so lucky."

Michael stood, and he stumbled as he held Honey in his arms. God, why did he feel weak? "You fucker, we beat your boss!"

"You beat the miniboss, not the final boss." It sounded like it was grinning. "You really thought that it was that easy? I never claimed that I was the final boss after all, only that you made it to the final level."

He knew it had been too easy, the motherfucker. Michael quickly put Honey down, glancing at Jeremy's body and then his spot that he needed to get to in order to get back into the game. Jeremy was still in there. He had to save him. "Technically, if you're doing what I think you're doing, you're still technically the final boss."

"I'm not, actually." It shrugged. "Didn't Jeremy tell you? He's been an incubator. The final boss has been in his head the whole time." Jeremy's body turned to grin at him, eyes too blue and smile too large. "His body is its body now, and he wants to play with you, Michael."

It gestured at the screen. Jeremy's sprite, now monochrome, hung limply in the center of the screen, swaying slightly. Jeremy's stats were different. His health was at full and his sanity was at zero. His title had been changed from Player Two to Pretty Little Puppet.

Michael felt his gut churn. After all of this, he was utterly decimating this arcade cabinet and doing whatever he could to get good payback for what this demon did to them, especially Jeremy. "And what the hell are you going to do while I'm in there, SQUIP?"

"Wait and watch." It shrugged. "I cannot take a body unless it has lost the mind. Jeremy still exists so his body is still his own. Same goes for your body. Unless you die in the game, I cannot do anything to you directly."

He didn't trust this damn thing, but it wasn't like he could do anything otherwise. "You aren't going to fuck with anybody or do any harm?"

"So long as I am not given a reason to, they will not be harmed. And I won't even give them anything in their heads either. No one else will be compelled to play."

Michael's legs started to shake as he stood. He wasn't used to standing after being in the game for so long. His body must've been reacting. "Alright, fine." Michael walked over to the cabinet again, making sure he didn't fall as he went for the controls.

"Michael, wait. You don't know what you're going back into,” Dustin warned, helping Michael stand. "Are you sure you can handle this?"

"What other choice do I have? I need to get Jeremy back and save him," Michael replied in a hushed tone to Dustin. "Just... be prepared in case this doesn't work out, OK?"

"We'll do what we can,” he promised softly, his eyes sad but determined. "No one else is getting infected by that thing."

He nodded in return before making it to the controls, taking a deep breath. A pop-up appeared, asking if Michael wanted to continue. Moving the controls, he entered 'YES' before he felt himself yanked back out of himself and into the game yet again.

Finally, he was gone. Time to set the real plan in motion. SQUIP pushed itself from Jeremy's unconscious form over to Michael's, rolling its shoulders before nodding. From the machine, dozens of cables shot out, grabbing everyone present and holding them still. A couple snaked around Jeremy, connecting to any point they could, his temples, the back of his neck, even going so far as to slither inside his mouth. Blue energy started pumping into Jeremy's body, preparing him for his final role.

Of course everyone focused in on Jeremy, taking the bait and struggling to try to get to Jeremy's unconscious form to help. Misdirection was so easy and simple.

SQUIP noticed the dog growling, and it spared a quick glance down, not shifting Michael's head at all, to look. The dog jumped on Michael's legs, and the stupid thing was about to bark. Thankfully, the cables made a make-shift muzzle around the mutt. It whimpered and whined, hopping back and trying to pull it off.

Now it would be uninterrupted. The cable to finish syncing everything up snaked up the rolled-down sleeve of Michael's arm, connecting it into the nape of Michael's neck, in the exact same spot as before. It needed to be sneaky, even if it was misdirecting. There were people who could possibly see this, after all.

SQUIP couldn't help but relax as it felt itself sync up. _He_ would need all his strength and energy in the coming time to ensure the plan could be completed. After all, if the cabinet was destroyed, Michael would need guidance on how to move past this event and that's exactly what SQUIP would provide.


	8. The Final Boss

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, Ari here!
> 
> So, short notes that are to the point today: Squip sucks. This game sucks. This chapter overall sucks, and no one will be happy. Warning for mention of hanging imagery (like death hanging kind) and references, though it never happens. It's not a fun time. :'))) What a great final boss level/chapter.
> 
> And now, a few words from Mara:
> 
> 'Hey lovelies!
> 
> I won’t say much for this chapter.
> 
> Neither does Jeremy. Pretty little Puppets don’t talk.
> 
> Enjoy~'

Michael stumbled as he opened the door to the mansion again, leaving the light behind him. It was eerily dark in here. He was grateful as he took out his flashlight, feeling and seeing that he had his stuff from before. Michael also took out his knife, having it ready as he turned on his light and looked around.

It took a moment for him to locate Jeremy, but what he saw almost stopped his heart.

It looked like Jeremy had been hanged.

Upon closer inspection, Michael saw that he hadn't, but instead had thick cords connected to his arms, legs, and two points on his neck which ran up into the darkness above. His body hung limply, not moving beyond the slight sway caused by the cold breeze running through the mansion.

Jeremy's eyes were totally white, and he had black tear stains running down his face. His clothes were a mockery of his usual outfit, with the black and white shirt and grey pants being stained by the same black goo which had clearly dripped off his face. The worst thing by far was the vacant smile on his lips, small and creepy and empty.

His gut churned and he almost got sick because of how horrifying the sight of Jeremy was right now. Michael kept calm and collected... well, as calm and collected as he could. "Remy?" Michael asked, keeping his defensive position of his knife steady and sure.

Jeremy didn't respond right away, but after a moment sprung to life... sort of. His body was pulled upright by the cords and he was spun to face Michael. His expression didn't change or show any sort of recognition. His feet barely brushed the floor, he was held just a little above it like a real marionette.

"You came back for me, Mikey." Jeremy's voice was light and airy and empty. His expression stayed that creepy smile. "You came back to play with me."

It took all that Michael had to suppress his shivers. "I came back for you, but not to play with you. I'm here to get you back and out of this game," he told Jeremy as his grip tightened on his knife.

Taking a glance around, the only thing that seemed to be keeping Jeremy like this were the strings holding him up. Would removing them get Jeremy free? He'd try most, not all of them, when the boss battle started. All but the one on his neck.

"I don't want to leave, Michael. I want to stay. I want you to play with me." Jeremy's tone didn't even sound upset, still just... empty. "Pretty puppets should be played with."

Michael swallowed the lump in his throat as he focused in on Jeremy for now. It was all a bit much right now, seeing him like this. “You’re my Player Two, not a puppet.”

Jeremy's grin grew bigger at that and he was sort of clumsily made to dance around Michael, his feet barely skimming the floor. "Player Two is a puppet now,” he sang. "I'm the pretty little puppet here to play. The master isn't happy with you Michael. It wants to make sure you play with me. If you don't, you become a pretty puppet too."

Music started up from nowhere. Instead of being an epic boss fight music Michael had been expecting, it was a super slow, super creepy music box. It took Michael a moment to realise that it was that song from Pinocchio, 'There are No Strings on Me.’ Jeremy was still dancing in circles around Michael, just out of reach even if he lunged.

Another lump formed in his throat. If he worked to get Jeremy just on the one string attached to his neck and made it to where he couldn’t move, he had a good chance of saving Jeremy. “Alright, fine, I’ll play with you.” He just hoped that his knife could cut through those strings. They had to be tough if they could easily marionette Jeremy. God, this was all kinds of fucked up.

"Yay!" Jeremy was maneuvered to back where he started, and a knife appeared in his hand. It sort of hung limply in his tight grip. From what Michael could tell, his movements were clumsy but he could still do delicate things without strings. "Mikey is going to play with me and stay with me forever. Mikey is going to become my forever playmate."

If SQUIP was trying to freak him out, it was working. “And what does being your ‘forever playmate’ entail?” he asked as he took a careful step back.

"You stay here, with me." Jeremy smiled. "You get your strings too." For a second, Michael felt the ghostly pull of marionette strings around his wrists. "And we play. We play together however the master wants." Jeremy spun, his limbs lifting up and off the ground a little. "We get others to play with us and join us and join the master. It's been in my head for days now. It wants us to play. I wanted it out but now I never want to leave. You will never want to leave either, Mikey. We will be happy forever."

“I can play with you, but we can’t stay here,” Michael said. “We need to go out and see Honey and our parents and finish our date and so many things.” Behind his back and out of Jeremy’s sight, Michael checked in his backpack. OK, good, he still had his sanity potion. After he basically immobilized Jeremy, he could force feed him this.

"Nope, nope, nope!" Jeremy chirped, his hands swinging next to him. "None of that matters anymore. Just playtime. Puppets don't worry about dates or parents or dogs. They don't even worry about breathing." For a split second, the air vanished around Michael and he was left gasping for breath. "That's what happened to me. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't breathe and I was scared. But now I'm not because the master saved me and made me so pretty."

Michael caught his breath when the air returned, coughing for a few seconds. He felt his heart split in two for Jeremy. He couldn’t let him be subjected to this. He had to save him. “And what does playtime consist of if I become a puppet too?”

"Whatever the master wants." Jeremy 'jumped' a little in excitement. "Puppets do what the master wants. And right now, the master isn't happy with you. So I get to make you a puppet too." He still sounded so empty and cheerful. "Are you ready, Mikey?"

He took a deep breath as he steeled himself for this. It wasn’t going to be pretty or fun. “I’m ready, Remy.”

Jeremy shot forward and stopped directly in front of Michael. Before he had a chance to react, Jeremy was lifted a little into the air, leaned forward to kiss Michael's forehead, and shot well out of reach once more. "Then let's play!" He held up his knife, the arm holding it bouncing a little in place.

Fucking SQUIP messing with them and breaking his heart. It was _so_ dead for this. “Let’s play.”

Jeremy clumsily danced towards Michael, his movements almost random as he got closer and closer. It made it impossible to tell where he would strike from, and Michael barely managed to dodge the attack launched at him.

Catching his breath as Jeremy moved back, he swung forward and managed to sl- Wait, it didn’t do a thing? How the hell was he going to cut through his strings?!

Jeremy giggled, and the sound echoed around Michael in a worrying manner. If sounds were echoing, that meant he was losing sanity.

"You can't cut my strings, Mikey. That means I won't be able to move, and then how can we play?" Another strike launched from a random direction, fast and precise. _This_ was more like what Michael was expecting from the final boss fight, though he didn't expect it to be so heartbreaking or terrifying.

Michael had to think on his feet. His knife couldn’t cut through the strings... Could Jeremy’s knife do that? OK, new goal: get Jeremy’s knife. He could so do that, right?

With Jeremy's next strike, Michael grabbed hold of the string holding Jeremy's left hand. He quickly pried the knife away from him and let go, since Jeremy's flailing was hurting him.

"Naughty, Mikey. You took my toy. I guess I need a new one." A black, glowing scythe appeared in his hands. It had a long, hooked blade, as well as one partly going down the handle, so even a swipe would do a lot of damage if it caught Michael.

“You didn’t say that I couldn’t. Sharing is caring, right?” Michael took a careful few steps back as he thought his plan out. He still had a decent amount of sanity, probably around seventy or so, maybe sixty. Maybe he could try swapping over some sanity with each string he cut off? Yeah.

The only problem now was that Jeremy's strikes were from a bigger distance away. Michael was going to have to really work if he wanted to get Jeremy's strings.

Thank god for the health potions he still had left.

Jeremy made a strike and Michael tried a plan. He let himself get caught, the scythe digging deep into his side and maybe removing twenty percent of his health, but he grabbed the string connected to Jeremy's right foot. The blade cut through it like butter.

Jeremy screamed and sprung back, doing at least another ten percent of damage as he did so. Michael felt the wound sting, more so than normal. Did the scythe have poison on it too?

Probably, knowing SQUIP. He hissed as he stepped back a bit, quickly taking out a health potion. He left with ninety, and health potions restored twenty-five. Michael downed it, knowing he was close to what he came in with. Alright, he could do this and stay ahead.

Jeremy's expression had finally shifted, deep with pain and betrayal. "Mikey, you hurt me! That hurt!" He twitched and spasmed for a moment, his body ragdolling as something shook out his strings before he settled again, the vacant smile back in place. "You really have to join the master now. I didn't want to hurt you before, but since you don't care, I won't either." He started attacking, making sure to keep Michael at least at arms length.

Michael would’ve been lying if he said that Jeremy’s first bit didn’t hurt. “You’ll thank me later when we’re out of here,” he promised Jeremy as he barely dodged his sweeping attacks.

"We're not leaving until the master is ready. When it's taken all of the watchers and made them puppets again too." Jeremy's attacks didn't slow, making it hard to even find an opening to attack.

“It’s not going to take anyone ever again,” Michael told him, gritting his teeth as he prepped for an idea. It wasn’t going to be a fun one to execute.

Purposefully, Michael slowed enough to let his non dominant arm get hit. Before the scythe could pull back, Michael grabbed the length of it without the blade, keeping it steady as he lunged forward a bit. He swiped at Jeremy’s arm string that held the scythe before pulling back and hissing. “Sorry, Jeremy.”

The scream of pain that echoed around Michael hurt even more than his actual wound. That was still Jeremy in there, and it was still Jeremy’s voice screaming and whimpering in pain.

The scythe drooped and fell limp to Jeremy’s side, but after being tugged away he was shaken out and smiling again. He grabbed the scythe in his other hand. “Just because I’m a lefty doesn’t mean the master is. Thanks to the master, I can use both!” he chirped. He didn’t seem any more present than he had before, maybe even less so.

He swore he had managed to transfer some sanity over! Fuck, he forgot to ask for the cheat code from Rich to see bars. That would’ve been fucking helpful right now. Michael made sure to drink another health potion. He was sure he had one left, so he’d have to make everything count. Maybe he could try tripping Jeremy up a bit and avoid more damage. “Do you like it more than me, Jeremy?” he asked as he got on-guard again.

“That’s a silly question, Mikey.” Jeremy giggled, starting his slashes again and causing Michael to have to dance backwards to stay out of the path of the blade. “Of course I do.” That one hurt, even if it wasn’t actually Jeremy thinking that.

“Why do you like it more than me? What makes it better than me?” Michael asked as he ducked and rolled out of the way of one particularly large sweep.

“It is my master. It controls everything about me, and says I like it more than I like you. I’m just a pretty, empty little puppet.”

“What about when you used to like me more than it?” he offered, noticing that Jeremy was getting a little sloppy with his slashes as he started talking about SQUIP.

“There wasn’t a time before, there was just a time I didn’t know I was a puppet,” Jeremy explained cheerfully. “The master says I have always been a puppet. And that I have always liked it most, trusted it most. Nothing else matters now.” On a particularly sloppy slash, Michael managed to cut the string on Jeremy’s other arm.

He screamed and it sounded even worse than before. “You’re _killing_ me, Mikey!” Jeremy wasn’t even shaken out this time, just pulled off into the shadows. His cries and whimpers and sobs echoed all around, like they were coming from every direction. “You’re hurting me. You’re trying to kill me.”

They _couldn’t_ be coming from every direction, so he had low sanity. Of course he did. “I’m not trying to kill you. I’m trying to save you,” Michael insisted as he looked around, trying to get a bearing or hint on where Jeremy could be. Jeremy couldn’t slash him anymore, right?

“To save me, you have to join me,” he wailed. Michael heard a faint rush of air from behind him and he barely had half a second to dive to the side before Jeremy’s spinning form almost cut him in two. His arms were still limp, but his grip on the scythe had shifted so he became like a deadly spinning top. He vanished into the darkness once again.

“No, that’s not how I’m going to save you,” Michael insisted as he tried to calm down and get back up. He still needed to try giving some sanity to Jeremy. If he got really low, he could take the potion himself. Yeah. Unless Jeremy still had nothing. Seriously, why didn’t he fucking get the cheat?!

“Your choices are join me or kill me, Mikey.” Jeremy sniffled. There was a pause, and once again Michael barely managed to dive out of the way of Jeremy’s attack before he vanished again. How the hell was he supposed to combat this?!

Did he really have to let himself get hit again? Oh god. “I choose ‘or’ then,” Michael joked as he quickly grabbed and got a health potion ready.

During the next attack, Michael stood tall and let Jeremy catch him with the scythe. It hurt even more than before, but it still hurt less than the scream Jeremy let out as Michael cut the last cord on his leg. It was just the one on the top of his head and on the back of his neck now.

Jeremy was yanked back into the darkness, still screaming and sobbing.

“M-Michael? What’s going on? Why can’t I move?” Wait, that’s sounded like _actual_ Jeremy.

It could have been a trick though. SQUIP was quite tricky and liked messing with him. It was easy for it to control him like this. Jeremy still had two strings left, not one. Still, it didn’t mean that this didn’t hurt.

“You’ll be fine soon enough,” Michael promised, downing the last health potion. He was still a little shaky on his feet as he tried to figure where Jeremy was.

Michael heard Jeremy preparing the attack this time, and he was ready for it. He jumped over the loosely spinning blade and slashed above Jeremy’s head, hoping to get the one there.

Jeremy screamed and his body spun off to the side, collapsing in a totally boneless heap. In fact, if he _did_ have bones, they would be very broken considering the angle his neck was at. Those white, wide, empty eyes started upwards almost accusingly as he just... lied there. Michael wanted to approach, but was also scared to. It could be a trap.

Keeping his knife ready, Michael took a hesitant step forward. His stomach was churning as he watched Jeremy, unmoving. “Remy?” he asked, his voice weaker than he would’ve liked. Please just fucking be OK.

A sort of shiver ran through Jeremy and he was tugged up into the air, about twenty feet up. Just inside the render distance. With only the neck cord left, and his totally limp body, the comparisons to being hung just hit even closer to home. He still didn’t even twitch besides the sway from the breeze.

Oh god, if he could get sick in this game, Michael would have right then and there. “J-Jeremy, please, say something, anything!”

There was a soft groan, and Michael through he saw Jeremy twitch. Then, through the gloom, Michael saw Jeremy’s eyes roll down and blink harshly, the familiar blue finally sliding into view. He groaned a little louder, a little more in pain.

Oh thank god, thank _god_ he was alive! Michael felt relief wash over him as he took a step forward to try to get a better look at Jeremy. “Remy? Oh god, Remy, are you OK?” A sort of familiar yet unfamiliar feeling of joy filled him. Was Jeremy finally back with him? Could he actually do something to help him? Woo, fucking finally!

Jeremy was in pain, he knew that much. And he was hearing Michael’s voice from somewhere, so he really should try to listen, maybe see where he was and talk to him. Michael sounded worried at first, then excited. Despite the pain he was feeling in every part of his body (seriously, it was like he couldn’t even move because it was so intense), he forced his eyes open.

Jeremy was very high up, and Michael was standing below him in... he was still dressed as his avatar which meant they were still in the game.

“Michael? I thought you got out... What happened?” He tried to scrub at his eyes but found he couldn’t so much as twitch the limb. Panic replaced confusion. “Why can’t I move?!”

“It’s OK, I can explain,” Michael promised him from below, sounding giddy. “Oh thank god, you’re finally back.” He took a deep breath. “So you were right about the incubation thing, it wanted to make you a puppet, hence the music and strings and stuff. I came back in to get you back.” Michael’s voice sounded a bit... off.

Jeremy let that oddness sit in the back of his mind while he processed. “Wait, music...?” He finally heard the mournful music playing in the background. The moment he focused in on it, he lost control of his mouth. “_There are no strings on me_.” Jeremy blinked, then tried to start thrashing (nothing worked). “What the hell? Mikey, help! I want out of this crazy ride!”

“Yeah, hold on a sec! I need to figure out how to get up to you to give you my last sanity potion.” He watched Michael look around before grinning at what looked to be one of the strings Michael had been talking about. It was dangling nearby, though Michael would have to make a running jump to-

And he already ran over and leaped up, grabbing the rope. Michael laughed and whooped at what he did. “Hell yeah, got it!” His laughter was more than a bit off, making Jeremy’s stomach churn.

He sounded... insane. Shit. Jeremy blinked and called the bars into his vision, nearly screaming when he saw just how low Michael was. His sanity was at ten. One more hit to it and he would be at zero, which caused a suicide.

Shitshitshitshitshit.

“Mikey, hun, before you get me down can you _please_ drink some sanity potion? You’re so low and it’s got me worried.” Jeremy put on the sweetest tone he could. Michael wasn’t stable, Jeremy needed to _do_ something.

Michael just laughed as he started climbing up the string. “No, I need to get your sanity up more,” he said, as if it was obvious. “You’re so sweet though. So sweet.” The string swung a little with how Michael climbed, laughing once more as he cheered. “Whee!”

Jeremy managed to glance up with only his eyes, seeing his sanity bar was well over fifty. Michael must have been giving it all to him. Double shit.

Jeremy couldn’t let Michael give him that potion, and he couldn’t move to stop him. Literally the only thing he had was a useless scythe (he wished he had this earlier in the game, it seemed like it would be a great weapon) and the string attached to his- the string!

The string was a part of him now, Jeremy could feel it. He could feel the other ones as well, including the one Michael was climbing. If he could just…

Got it.

“Michael, get off my string,” Jeremy ordered, surprised to hear that his voice was layered with another. Something deeper and much more powerful that what Jeremy was capable of. “Get off my string and back to the ground. _Now_.”

Michael instantly stopped swinging and laughing, staring at Jeremy in confusion. “What? Jeremy, I need to get to you. You need the potion!” He held it up with one hand and waved it around. “See, you need this!”

“Get off my sting or I drop. That fall is enough to remove the last of my health. Get down _now_.” A plan was quickly forming in Jeremy’s head. There was no way he could let this happen to Michael, he came into the game in the first place to save him. Jeremy wasn’t about to let Michael die. He’d do what it took to save him, even if Michael hated him for it.

He watched Michael instantly freeze before starting to rapidly nod. “OK, OK, I’m getting down. I promise,” Michael said as he put the potion back into his backpack before climbing down the string. “See, look! I’m climbing down! I’m getting off your string, Remy.”

Jeremy waited until Michael was fully off the string for the next part. “Drop the knife. I’m putting away my weapon, you are going to drop yours or I drop myself.”

Michael chucked the knife far away then, looking at Jeremy in what he probably thought was reassuring. It was terrifying with the undertone of insanity, the slight twitch under his eye, the unstable smile itself. “I tossed it. Tossing it works too, right?”

Jeremy felt it reappear in his inventory. It was his knife. Michael had no way of cutting him down now.

“Yes it does.” Now for the hard part. Jeremy focused and felt for the strings. He might have grabbed hold of the controller but he didn’t know the controls. Slowly, he used the string on the back of his neck to lower himself down to be eye level with Michael, using another string to pull his head back so it wasn’t flopped forwards. He felt a little like Doc Ock, but it was working well enough. Jeremy approached Michael, holding himself just within arms reach.

“You can’t give me any more sanity as you are right now,” Jeremy noted, seeing the attempt to push more over but the effort was unsuccessful.

“Then let me give you the potion, please,” Michael almost begged as he seemed to hesitate with taking a step forward. “You need more sanity right now. I saved the potion for you. You need it.”

“I cannot drink it, it would do nothing for me,” Jeremy said. It was a lie, he was still a player so it would work, but Michael didn’t know that. He wasn’t stable enough to know it. Jeremy let Michael take another step forward so they were almost chest to chest.

“What?” Michael’s eyes widened as he looked at Jeremy. They were at eye level thanks to the strings. “But you- you should be able to! You _need_ it!”

“I have become a boss, a part of the game. Only players can take the potion with any effect.” He wasn’t lying with that statement anyways.

Michael whined as he seemed to be trying to figure out what to do now. “But- but it needs to work, you need it. How else are you supposed to regain sanity? I can’t give you anymore sanity!”

“You can drink it yourself to give me sanity. And I will accept the transfer so long as you do as I say.”

His eyes lit up like he didn’t even think of that. It hurt Jeremy’s heart to see him like this. “Oh! Oh, yeah, I could do that! What do I need to do?”

Jeremy leaned closer thanks to his strings. “Kiss me,” he whispered. “Like you mean it. Like it’s the last chance you’ll get.”

Michael eagerly nodded, cupping Jeremy’s cheeks quickly. “Like right now? I can do it right now?”

“Please.”

As soon as Jeremy finished saying the word, Michael’s lips pressed against his own. It was hard and needy and, even if Michael had basically lost his mind, he was still gentle and careful and loving. His inexperience also shone through, though Jeremy wasn’t much better. Still, Michael put his all into it as he carefully brought Jeremy closer, running a hand through his hair.

Jeremy wished he could hold Michael, could indulge in this properly, but he couldn’t. His body wouldn’t move, only his strings. So, instead, he kissed Michael back as best he could, trying to pour in every ounce of love and care he felt, as well as an apology. Michael would forgive him for this. One day. Hopefully.

Michael whined into the kiss, gasping as he pulled back for air. He was clearly winded, getting a bit eager as he stared at Jeremy. “W-was that good?” Michael asked, almost like a lost child.

Jeremy smiled and tried to nod. He managed it, even if the loose string tugged his hair a little because of it.

“It was perfect. Means a lot to me. Now, drink the potion and I’ll prepare myself for the transfer. Since it’s not done without me knowing, I have to actually open up the ability to accept sanity points.”

Michael nodded as he took the bottle out through the shortcut and uncorked it. “Alright, I’m gonna drink it now and then I’ll transfer it over to you. Yeah.” He smiled happily, though his smile looked a little unhinged, before downing the potion.

Jeremy watched as the sanity meter ticked upwards, finally settling at thirty five percent. Not enough, but it was all he could manage. It would have to do.

“How do you feel, Mikey?” Jeremy asked softly, taking the strings he could feel from behind Michael and preparing them. There were more than what was actually attached to him, he was a little surprised he could control them all, honestly.

Leaning forward, Michael groaned as he rubbed his eyes under his glasses. “Ugh, my head’s killing me,” he murmured before looking back up at Jeremy.

“I’m not surprised, you gave me all your spare sanity,” Jeremy murmured as he moved to kiss Michael’s forehead. “You realize this a no win situation, right? There’s no way out of this. No cheat or shortcut or anything. Either I die or you do.” He sighed heavily. “You’ll forgive me for this one day. Make sure Derek or Dustin has the knife, I don’t think Rich can stop it even if he tried.” With that, the strings wrapped around Michael’s limbs, holding him still while one more went around his torso, lifting him up slightly so he could be pulled back.

Michael’s eyes widened as he struggled uselessly against Jeremy’s strings. “Wait, what? Jeremy, no! What are you doing?!” The tears Michael started to shed only instigated his own tears.

“Don’t let me hurt you. Or anyone else. And get the cabinet destroyed once and for all!” Jeremy called, tears filling his eyes.

“You want a host? Well you’ve fucking got willing one!” Jeremy called to the darkness. He knew SQUIP was listening, and not a moment later, he felt SQUIP start to force itself in. Jeremy shot Michael a watery smile as the strings literally threw him at the way out. The doors slammed shut behind him, cutting Jeremy off. He took a deep breath and readied himself. This was going to suck.

Michael gasped as he almost flew back, landing back in- wait, were these cables?!

As he tried to catch his back, Michael scrambled away from the cables, even as they started to grab at him. Looking up, Michael saw his friends all tied up in cables that seemed to be coming from the cabinet. Christine, Marshal, and Dustin were close to being fully cocooned, cables trying to connect to them by their skin, while Rich was fighting with all his might still. Derek was slashing at cables, though his legs were still wrapped and he was dangled upside down. Oh god, it even had Honey muzzled and pinned to the ground by the cables!

“See what your rebellion had wrought?” Jeremy’s body whispered after yanking the cable out his mouth. It seemed to have gone pretty deep down, and he gagged as it came out. “If you had just let it happen and not resisted, no one would be hurt, and they’d all be like you.” Then, SQUIP stepped _away from the controls of the game_ even though Jeremy’s mind was still in there and his body was still connected by cables. What the fuck? That wasn’t part of the rules.

Glowing blue light was being pumped into Jeremy at different points of his skin.

Well, now he had an idea on what he had to do to get Jeremy out. After all, he had done something similar in game.

“You said no one would’ve been hurt,” Michael said before hissing as he tried to stand. Alright, fuck, he was in pain. As he spoke, he looked to see six cables pumping light into Jeremy’s skin. OK, he could do this.

“And they are not.” SQUIP grinned. “In fact, they are feeling blissfully relaxed if they have been fully taken. And even Derek, though fighting, isn’t being hurt. He’s just panicked. I was even careful not to hurt your dog.” It said that like it wasn’t a given.

“We can’t get the cables out, Michael! They’re stuck in Jeremy’s skin!” Rich yelled as he thrashed harder.

“I’ll get them out!” Michael shouted as he tackled Jeremy’s body, taking the element of surprise. It was obvious that SQUIP hadn’t been expecting that, that it would be able to talk for a bit longer. “I’ve heard enough of your shit,” Michael almost growled as he grabbed the cables for Jeremy’s legs and yanked those out first.

Where the cables disconnected, small chunks of flesh came too. SQUIP started bleeding from the wounds, but not too heavily. Nowhere near as much as Michael would have thought.

In the background, he heard a muted thump and he saw Christine now on the floor, passed out but alive. The cables laid limp around her, loose and uncoiled.

SQUIP began screaming in pain and kicked hard, sending Michael sprawling backwards. It stood, legs a little shaky from the pain, as Jeremy’s jeans and socks slowly started leaking with blood. “You little _shit_,” it growled before grinning. “You’re really going to keep going? Jeremy might bleed dry by the time you finish.”

“I’ll get them out before he does,” Michael said with determination as he got up again. “Not like you’d want him to bleed out anyway.” Plus, he had ways to get Jeremy to do what he wanted. If he didn’t know Jeremy’s tickling weak points after twelve years, what kind of best friend would he be?

Lunging forward again, he grabbed the arm intended to punch him. He grabbed the cable and yanked it out with one hand before reaching forward further and tickling his armpit.

The screech of pain turned shuddery and SQUIP took a shallow breath before squirming and squealing. It flailed, but was unable to get Michael to let go. It was too weak to be able to throw him off either.

Michael heard another thump, and it revealed Marshal to be the next one dropped.

Michael grinned as he continued tickling and started to yank out the other cables. “You seriously didn’t expect me to _not_ use what I know about Jeremy to my advantage, did you?” Just as SQUIP seemed to regain itself, Michael moved to tickle Jeremy’s most sensitive spot: the dip of his sides. He was careful with Jeremy’s sports bra (thank god that he didn’t keep his binder on for all of this) as he tickled.

SQUIP howled, and thrashed harder than ever, only managing to throw Michael off when almost all the cables were disconnected. The blood seemed less real now, more like oil, and Michael was beginning to wonder how real it was in the first place.

Everyone was free now, but either passed out or too exhausted to be able to help.

“You disconnect the last cable before I’m fully transferred, you lose Jeremy too,” SQUIP warned as it panted. “His mind is only part of the way over. You’ll lose him for good if you disconnect me.”

Was it bluffing? It had to be bluffing. He didn’t know enough about all of this stuff to make a sound decision. It had been lying about Jeremy bleeding though, it lied about hurting his friends with loopholes. How could he trust it now?

“Jeremy wouldn’t want you parading around in his body. I care about his wants more than my own,” Michael firmly said as he backed SQUIP against the arcade cabinet, caging it in.

SQUIP looked up at Michael, eyes wide and scared. “M-Michael? P-please, you’re going to kill him! You’re going to kill me!”

He couldn’t hesitate or let his heart strings be tugged. Michael grabbed the base of the cable that dug into the back of Jeremy’s neck.

“He wouldn’t want you puppeteering around his body.”

With that, he yanked the cable out, even as tears escaped him and he apologized to Jeremy on the off chance that SQUIP was telling the truth.

Jeremy’s eyes rolled back and he collapsed. There was no scream, no flash of light, he was just... gone.

Michael’s heart skipped a beat as he held Jeremy close, cradling him as best he could as he practically fell on his butt again. “Remy?” Quickly, Michael felt for a pulse of any kind as he felt his own pulse speed up.

There was a pulse, but it was faint. Jeremy didn’t stir in the slightest, barely even breathing.

But it was there at least. He was breathing at least, and he wasn’t dead, wasn’t dying. Michael could see the ‘bleeding’ areas were just bruises now. “You’re still here, thank god.” He laughed in relief, holding Jeremy close as he buried his face into the crook of his neck.

There was a pause, then Jeremy took a shuddering breath, coughing after a moment. “Michael?” he croaked.

“Jeremy,” Michael gasped, holding Jeremy closer as he was firmly planted on his ass. “Hey, yeah, it’s me. Hi.” He felt a furry head nuzzle against his side, and Michael reached over with one hand and pet Honey’s head.

Jeremy’s hands grabbed lightly onto Michael’s hoodie, though it was clear it was because he was weak more than anything else. “Mikey? How?”

“I had to undo everything out of game, just not in the game,” Michael told him, letting his tears freely fall as he smiled down at Jeremy. “I told you we’d finish our date.”

Jeremy whimpered softly. “It... hurts. Is it still in my head?”

“No, I yanked it out before it could finish,” he promised before kissing his forehead. “SQUIP isn’t in your head or controlling you.”

“I... so the strings aren’t real?” he asked, looking down at his hands with a faint frown.

“No, because there are no strings there,” Michael told him, putting his hand that had been petting Honey to rest on top of one of his hands. “See?”

“Oh...” Jeremy flopped his head against Michael’s chest. “M’really tired. And sore. Think I died for a minute. More than once.”

“I’m tired and sore too.” He kissed Jeremy’s head this time. “I’m just glad that you’re here and back and not truly dead.”

“M’happy you’re safe,” Jeremy mumbled. “I... y’promise m’not a puppet anymore? And it’s gone?”

“I promise that you’re not one and that it’s gone.” Michael sealed the promise with a quick kiss on Jeremy’s lips, just a quick brush of the lips.

As weak as he was, Jeremy still lifted his head in an attempt to chase Michael’s lips. His eyes were unfocused and dazed, but they were his normal blue and real and alive. Jeremy was okay, and Michael knew he’d be okay too.


	9. The Dust Settles...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, Ari here!
> 
> So, it’s time for recovery. Even if it’s a horror fic, it needs recovery, and then everything’s gonna end well... Right?
> 
> Right?...
> 
> And now, a few words from Mara:
> 
> ‘Hey lovelies! So! They’re out and everything is gonna be fine now. That’s how our story goes. Time for recovery, then back to normal, right?
> 
> Enjoy!’

Jeremy barely remembered the trip back home. He did remember staying curled up against Michael the whole time, he remembered Michael’s heartbeat and his warmth. Jeremy never thought he’d have a chance to miss Michael just being able to _react_ to him again in real time.

When Jeremy was next aware, he was curled up next to Michael in bed. Michael was fast asleep.

Though Jeremy knew logically that he was fine, that he was human, his body felt differently. Jeremy could feel the pins in his joints still, he could feel the strings dictating his movements. Jeremy could still feel the words in his head: stay still, don’t move, the master will move you. He shivered as he tried to push them away.

Movement came from the foot of his bed (these were his bed sheets). Jeremy looked up to see Honey there and awake, curiously looking at him before making her way over. She sniffed his face, giving him a few gentle licks before she settled down behind him. It was as if she was checking up on him as she faced the back of him (he was curled up to Michael, and one of Michael’s arms was loosely resting over his side).

Jeremy chuckled softly. “Hey baby girl. I’m okay.” He smiled at her. “I’m just... a little out of it. You know I’m real, right?”

Honey reached over and nuzzled her head against his. She even playfully nipped at his ear before resting her head in the crook of Jeremy’s neck.

Jeremy giggled, relaxing a little. The unnatural pins smoothed out, and the strings grew fainter, turning to elastic rather than cord. They didn’t vanish entirely, but they grew more manageable.

“You’re a good girl, Honey. Thank you.”

She let out a soft yap before burying her face into the side of his neck, obviously getting quite comfortable.

Jeremy was quite content to let her stay there. Until Michael woke up, Jeremy wasn’t moving.

He’d been awake for almost three full days after all. And Jeremy had been awake almost as long. God, why was he awake now?

Jeremy groaned as he reached up, stroking Honey’s ears. “I can still feel it, Honey. It’s still there, isn’t it?”

She leaned into the touch before nuzzling against Jeremy’s neck in an up-and-down manner. Was she confirming or just getting comfortable?

Considering everything that she had done, Jeremy was going to assume the former.

“I’m gonna get free of it, then. I’ll be stronger than it. I’ll pull my own strings from now on.”

Honey growled, seemingly in agreement, before getting all settled and huffing. Her chubby cheeks pressed comfortably against his neck.

“Hey, Honey? Did Michael seem... unstable before?” Michael’s laughter, back when Jeremy first woke up, it had sounded... unhinged. Like it had in the game. Had his sanity bar transferred into reality?

Well, even if it had, they could work through it. Like Jeremy and his strings.

Again, it was like Honey nodded before she got back to her comfortable position.

“I knew I wasn’t just imagining it,” Jeremy muttered. He thought he heard Michael laughing crazily, but he wasn’t sure. Thinking about it, thinking about how Michael seemed, Jeremy felt another shiver go through him. His pins jangled in their sockets.

Honey whimpered before shifting to start licking Jeremy’s face. She was trying to reassure him. Yeah. Like he had said and thought, he could work on his own issues. Maybe Michael just needed help readjusting from everything that had happened. He needed help moving past this. Michael had seemed really upset that Derek had only unplugged SQUIP’s machine and moved it to the back storage, so maybe Michael doing something with the machine, the source of all this, would help too. Once they were better, of course.

Yeah. That sounded like a good idea. Jeremy felt himself nod in agreement with his own thoughts, and settle back down. It was... god this was insane. Everything that happened was just insane. The _only_ good thing about it was the fact that the default avatar was male. He had enjoyed the extra parts while they lasted.

As he settled back down, he felt Honey shift rhythmically as she snored. Jeremy felt himself following suit soon after, the comfort of her and Michael easing him and the pins.

Jeremy settled into the familiar beanbag, hands shaking as he reached for the controller. He and Michael were going to play some video games. It was their favorite hobby.

Except, after a few days ago, even seeing a joystick sent Jeremy spinning out. He could practically feel the scythe in his hand again.

Michael didn’t seem to be much better, staring at the controller blankly, almost begging it with his eyes to reveal some big secret. Jeremy knew he’d get nothing from it.

“Hey, man, we can do something else instead,” Jeremy offered, reaching his hand toward Michael instead.

Michael flinched at first, though he relaxed as he seemed to realize it was Jeremy’s hand. “I... No, I don’t want that thing to ruin video games for me.” He spoke with a shaky determination as some focus came back into his eyes, though he still didn’t reach for the controller.

“It won’t,” he promised. “We can’t let it tug us around like that. But we don’t have jump right back in either. Especially not with AoTD. It’s very similar to what happened after all.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Still, Michael stared at the controller before he got up. “I’ll go into the kitchen to get snacks while you find a game from your collection.” With that, Michael hurried out of Jeremy’s room.

Jeremy felt himself heading to the shelves before he really registered that he had agreed. His brain was still a little out of sync with itself after being possessed. Michael promised that they’d get through it.

He thought back to how Michael had been behaving the past couple of days. He was nervous and jumpy and always reaching into his bag, panicking when he didn’t find something before relaxing. Jeremy suspected he was looking for a health potion. Or a sanity one. He still seemed unstable.

Jeremy only noticed that Honey went with Michael when she had come back in. She went over to Jeremy, whining and jumping up against his leg, trying to get him to focus on her.

Jeremy pulled his attention from Crash Team Racing and looked down at her. “Hey, Honey, what’s up, sweetheart?”

Honey continued whining, looking between the doorway and Jeremy as she pawed at his legs.

Jeremy instantly went into focus mode. Honey might not have been a support dog or a service dog, but she was damn well as smart as one. She was telling him that Michael needed Jeremy. He started towards the door, ready to face whatever Michael had done or was doing. The weight of the scythe felt more real in that moment, as well as the tug of the strings. They always did when he got serious.

Honey lead him out of his room and down the hall. Everything seemed normal, which was always unsettling now. She took him into the kitchen where a spilled bag of Lays laid, a lot of the chips across the expanse of the tile floor along with a bowl. Just as Jeremy felt his worry spike, Honey ran over to the shut pantry door, whining loudly as she looked between it and Jeremy.

Jeremy nodded as he walked over, knocking on the door. “Michael, hun, are you in there? It’s me, it’s Jeremy.” This wasn’t the first time this had happened, even if they had only been out a couple of days. Michael forgot that it was safe out here. He felt like he had to hide, or he thought he saw some monster.

“Jeremy? What are you doing out there? You gotta hide,” Michael insisted, the door suddenly opening. Honey had to back up quick as it almost swung open. Michael reached out for him, grabbing his hand to tug him in.

Jeremy didn’t resist. He couldn’t, not with Michael’s tugs and the phantom pull of the strings. Okay, stop that. This was no time to fall back into puppet mode, brain.

“Mikey, we don’t have to hide. There’s nothing here except us and Honey,” Jeremy assured Michael gently. “We’re out of the game. We’re safe.”

Michael shut the door, though he didn’t seem to notice that Honey ran in too. “We do have to hide, we aren’t safe. There was something walking into the kitchen, and- and it was gonna get us-“

Honey butted her head against Michael’s leg, presumably trying to help. Michael screamed at first, jumping back into the pantry wall and bumping his head. He hissed before looking down, and Jeremy could see clarity returning to his eyes thanks to the pantry light. “I- it was just you.” Even as he held a hand to his head, Michael teared up and looked like an emotional mess. “I’m so sorry, you aren’t a monster, Honey.” It looked like Michael was about to break down.

Jeremy bent down and scooped Honey onto his arms, holding her up at Michael’s height. She leaned forward and licked his cheeks. “I don’t think she’s upset with you.” Jeremy nodded. “She came to get me as soon as you hid, so she was more worried than upset.” Jeremy sighed. “Next time, if you think you saw something, come get me. I could see the bars, right? I can tell you if something is hostile.”

Michael carefully took Honey from Jeremy, nodding as he let Honey lick his tears away. “I- OK. Sorry, I think I heard her coming with her tippy-tappies and freaked. We gotta- gotta trim those. No more tippy-tappies.”

“No more tippy-tappies,” Jeremy agreed. “I’ll give Mama a call. She can get that sorted tonight.” Jeremy huffed, then stumbled forward a little. It felt like he was shoved from behind, but all that was there was the door.

“So tell me hun, you wanna keep trying with the game or do you wanna do something else?”

He seemed to think seriously on Jeremy’s question. “I... let’s wait until next weekend, after we go back to school, to try games again. Please.”

“Of course, Mikey.” Jeremy nodded, suddenly feeling very tired and floppy. He let himself slouch a little, allowing his arms to fall limp to his sides from where they had been crossed.

“Do you wanna just lie down and watch some cartoons instead?” Michael offered as he shifted Honey in his arms to cradle her more than just hold.

Jeremy nodded, sort of knowing that if he tried to speak, he would sound... off. This happened sometimes, and he couldn’t figure out why. Jeremy just went... floppy. When he was like this, though, he was more than content to just follow Michael’s lead.

Michael opened the door for the pantry, looking at the floor when they both stepped out. “Shit, I forgot I did this. You can go lie down first and get a show up, I’ll clean.”

Jeremy nodded and left the kitchen, even if he wanted to stay to help clean up. He flopped down on the couch instead of the beanbag, limbs feeling remarkably heavy, as he grabbed the controller. Phineas and Ferb was a good show. Jeremy leaned back into the couch cushions and just started watching, letting his body do what it had to do.

After however long, Michael came into the living room and flopped down on the couch next to him. Honey hopped up with them. “God, I’m so tired,” Michael grumbled. “I think that sort of attack drained me.”

Jeremy made a sort of sound of agreement. He knew that if he spoke, Michael would freak. It was better to just stay quiet until he _needed_ to talk.

“How are you feeling? You seem really tired too,” Michael murmured before he rested his arm over Jeremy’s side.

Jeremy nodded almost robotically. “Not good,” he muttered, even if his tone was a little too airy, too light for the words. Shit.

“Geez, you... Jeremy.” He was shifted carefully to face Michael as they both lied on their sides. One hand cupped Jeremy’s cheek as Michael’s weary eyes searched his face. “What happened?”

Jeremy didn’t know how to articulate what happened mentally, since he didn’t really know himself, and he didn’t have the words to explain it. Instead, he just lifted his hand and held it where Michael could see it. His arm hung loose, and everything except for his palm seemed totally relaxed. That was where the string was. He was pulling his hand up by the phantom sensations of the string attached.

Michael's eyes seemed to study his arm before those brown eyes softened. "Oh, Jeremy." Reaching up, Michael carefully held his arm before gently rubbing out the sensations, starting at his wrist and ever so slowly moving down his arm. "Where else does it feel like this?"

His arm feeling like his own again, and, with more clarity returning to his head, Jeremy paused for a moment before pointing to his other arm and then to his head. He had control over the arm Michael had rubbed, and his legs felt fine for now.

Nodding, Michael shifted Jeremy once he finished rubbing down that arm. Jeremy's back faced Michael as Michael started rubbing out his other arm in the same way. Once he was done there, he shifted Jeremy back to face him before he started massaging and rubbing out his head.

Jeremy’s eyes closed as he relaxed into a more natural feeling. Thoughts started flowing again and his body felt like his own. He wasn’t a puppet, no matter how much his pin joints ached. With a small sigh, Jeremy nuzzled closer to Michael.

"Do you feel better?" Jeremy nodded. "Good." Michael's arms cradled him close, letting Jeremy rest against Michael's chest as he shifted them. Behind him, Jeremy felt Honey lying there. Here, he felt warm and safe and himself. He'd help Michael and Michael would help him.

Michael was quite content for once. It was rare for him to feel so relaxed since getting out of the game, but slow dancing with a slightly sleepy Jeremy in his living room certainly did that.

Michael had just been chilling while he waited for Jeremy to wake up from a nap, listening to music on the stereo, when Jeremy came in, barely awake, and asked to dance with Michael.

Keeping one arm around Jeremy, pressed close to him, Michael reached up with his free hand to cup Jeremy’s cheek. Jeremy smiled softly up at him, eyes unfocused with the remains of sleep clinging to him.

Michael shifted his hand slowly down as he smiled down at Jeremy. This moment felt so intimate. He had dreamed of dancing like this with Jeremy as they lived together, were a couple together. It had come sooner than he expected, but Michael wasn't complaining. Nothing could ruin this-

Jeremy’s knees buckled and he collapsed to the ground. His body lied in a limp heap, not quite as boneless as he had been during the boss fight, but almost. His breathing was fast and panicked and his eyes showed he wasn’t doing much better mentally.

Right away, Michael kneeled down next to him as Honey barked. Oh god, he wished Mr. Heere was here, but he was getting back from his trip early in the morning. It was only a few hours until midnight. "Oh god, Jeremy, I'm sorry." What had he done? Did he do something? He had ran his hand down Jeremy's cheeks to the back of his neck-

Fuck, that had been where the last cable had been, and where the only string remained when he was forced out of the game. What was he supposed to do? He had to have been having a panic attack from the association. "Hey, Jeremy, it's OK." Honey whined as she settled right by him, and Michael moved his hand to gently cup his cheek again, away from the sensitive spot. He glanced at the back of Jeremy's wrist, and he saw the pinprick spots of where the cable had entered and bruised his skin. "It's alright."

Jeremy let out a panicked whine and screwed his eyes shut. “It’s happening again. I can’t move. I can’t move. I’m gonna die again,” he muttered, his voice cracking. Michael wasn’t even sure if Jeremy had heard his words.

Michael took a deep breath as he gently shook Jeremy. "You aren't going to die, Jeremy. You're here, not with that damn AI demon. It's me and Honey and we're in your house, in your living room. You aren't back there."

The boneless way Jeremy’s body flopped about almost made Michael nauseous. “Doesn’t matter where I am,” Jeremy whimpered, eyes still shut tight. “Doesn’t matter. I can’t _move_.”

"You can move though, I know you can." Michael carefully grabbed Jeremy's arm. "Try wiggling your finger, just one of them."

Jeremy whimpered louder. “I _can’t_! My neck snapped! I already died! I can’t move my body!”

What Jeremy said almost made Michael sick, but he kept it together for Jeremy. "You didn't die. You can move your finger. I wouldn't be asking you if you couldn't do it."

“I died three fucking times already!”

"You are alive, Jeremy! You are, otherwise I wouldn't be here with you. Honey wouldn’t be here with you either."

“I’m only alive because mmm- ma- because it made me alive again.” Jeremy sounded like he was going to be sick. Still, he tried taking some deeper breaths, and Michael encouraged his by making his own breathing louder for Jeremy to follow.

"You're alive because you've always been alive. I promise you that." Michael kept exaggerating his breathing as Honey whimpered from beside them, unsure on what she should do.

Jeremy eventually managed to copy Michael’s breathing, slowing his own to the point where it wasn’t dangerous anymore. “C-can you move me, please? Just lie me out more comfortably. Please.” Jeremy’s voice was small and still very shaky, but it was so much less panicked.

"Yeah, of course." He did just that, careful to avoid his wrists, ankles, and nape of Jeremy's neck. "There you go. Honey wants to give you a kiss, if that's alright. She's worried."

Jeremy was flat on his back, and it looked like the was trying to nod but couldn’t. “Yes, that’s fine. That’s more than fine. Honey love is more than welcome right now.”

Honey dove in right away, licking at Jeremy's cheek as she whimpered and wiggled. "I'm glad to hear that. Is it alright if I do something to help too?"

“Yeah. Sorry, I just... my body shut down and it freaked me out.”

"It's alright, I know where not to touch now," Michael said as he settled to lie down beside Jeremy. He leaned over and pressed a kiss to the cheek that Honey wasn't drenching.

"It-" Jeremy took a slow, shuddery breath. "It felt like before. My body just gave out and... yeah. I remember how it felt, I remember being... that. I remember all the times I technically died and I just... I couldn't deal."

Michael’s eyes softened at the heartbreaking tale. “Oh Jeremy, I’m so sorry. I don’t blame you for being unable to deal with that, that’s extremely traumatizing.” He reached over and kissed Jeremy’s forehead.

“I’m sorry too, Mikey.” Jeremy’s voice was soft, ashamed. “M’sorry you’re dating basically an undead guy who can’t even handle small touches. Wish I could be better for you.”

“Hey, you don’t need to worry about being better. You’re my best friend who went after me in that hell game to save me and tried to sacrifice yourself for me more than once if I’m doing the math right. You’re one of the bravest people, if not the bravest person, that I know. I’m honored for you to be my best friend and boyfriend.” Michael gave him a warm smile. “I just needed to learn what spots are no-nos to touch since those were where serious things happened. I won’t touch those areas again.”

Jeremy was misty eyed as he actually managed to turn his head to look at Michael. He sniffled softly and smiled, and he would probably be scrubbing his eyes if he could move. “_Thank_ you, Mikey.” He took another breath. “Just- Just the scars. Anything connected to the scars goes limp if you touch them.

“Yup, and I know where those are now. I won’t touch them, promise.” Shifting, Michael pressed one more kiss to Jeremy’s forehead.

“I love you... I love you so much.”

“I love you too Jeremy, with all of my heart.”


	10. ... To Reveal the Inevitable

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, Ari here. 
> 
> Happy Halloween! Hope that you guys are having a spooky day. 
> 
> This ending will make it a haunting day at least. After all, this is a horror fic. Things don’t always have a happy ending. 
> 
> Also, a reminder of the amazing cover that magicalplaylist made: https://magicalplaylist.tumblr.com/post/188572333934/cabinet-man-by-michaelmellancholy-and-booglebug
> 
> And now, the final words from Mara for this fic:
> 
> ‘Hey Lovelies! So! The story is over, for now. Michael and Jeremy got out and things are going well. Their adventures aren't over yet, though. This fic is connected to another we're planning to come. No rest for these boys, not yet.
> 
> Enjoy!’

Michael pulled up into his own driveway, parking the car and turning it off. “Well, we have arrived. Sort of. We’re still going back to your house to finish the date since your dad is out on his own date,” he announced with a grin as he picked up his Wendy’s cup. “You got your nugs and my fries?”

“Of course, Mikey. We’re all set!” Jeremy beamed. “So we eat then go cuddle up for a nap?”

“Eeyup.” Even if it was a bit late, Michael managed to get in the rest of their first date of Wendy’s and a nap. School coming back made it a bit more difficult to plan the date since they had to juggle recovering and not letting their parents know what happened over break as well as schoolwork. Thank god for the weekends. “Lead the way to your humble abode, please.”

Jeremy grinned and hopped out of the car. He hurried over to the door, bags of food in hand, to unlock it.

Michael got out and locked up his car before following Jeremy over to his porch. Waiting until Jeremy unlocked the door, he opened it for Jeremy like a gentleman.

Jeremy giggled and blushed, as he always did when Michael did something gentlemanly. “You spoil me, hun, I swear,” he cooed, slipping inside and over to the dining table to set the food down.

His cheeks warmed at the new ‘nickname’ that he was still trying to get used to. Michael followed in after Jeremy and shut the door. “I just try to be the best boyfriend I can be for you.”

“Well you certainly and spectacularly managed that,” Jeremy chirped, setting down the food and half skipping over to Michael. He quickly pecked Michael’s lips before heading into the kitchen to grab some plates.

Michael was sure he grinned like the lovestruck dope that he was. Looking over the food they ordered (they both got nuggets and fries), he separated their food to their places, putting a napkin under them for now. Michael made sure Jeremy got the one with the extra nugget while he had the floppy fries.

Jeremy must have spotted that because he beamed over at Michael as he sat down, a light blush on his cheeks.

Michael got a strange feeling in the back of his head that was sort of pushing him to scoot closer to Jeremy. It sounded like a great idea, so he did. Jeremy seemed to like it too, since he also scooted his chair closer and leaned against Michael’s arm.

He grinned down at him as he reached for a nugget (the same thing that pushed him to scoot closer pushed him to do this) and fed it to Jeremy after dunking it. Jeremy lit up and ate it, humming happily as Michael ate one of his own nuggets. Hell yeah.

Wow, his gut feeling was on point! He really should listen to it more often, he understood more than he realised. And it made Jeremy happy. Hell yeah.

“Cranking up the romance, aren’t you, Mikey.” Jeremy giggled. “One might think you’re trying to woo me.”

“Ah yes, being a sweet and caring person means I’m trying to woo you,” Michael almost laughed out before he ate a chewy fry. Mm. “Maybe I’m just trying to stuff you up so you’re content and sleepy and will be more willing to nap with me.”

“Well it’s working, either way. And feeding me is more than just being ‘sweet and caring.’ That’s straight up flirting at this point.” He was grinning, looking happier than Michael had seen him in a while.

“It isn’t straight-up flirting in _my_ book, but sure, go off, I guess.” Michael grinned as Jeremy playfully whapped his arm. “You gotta keep eating though so you can be full and content and a blob so we can nap in your room- Whoops, I spilled my plan.”

“What a dastardly plan.” Jeremy nodded as he ate another nugget. “And I seem to be helpless to resist.”

“Muahahah, all according to keikaku.” Michael leaned over to whisper in Jeremy’s ear, “Translator’s note: keikaku means plan.”

Jeremy shot Michael a confused look, but he was still smiling. “Since when do you speak Japanese?”

“Oh my god, you dork. It’s a fucking old meme,” Michael said as he absentmindedly held Jeremy’s hand and brushed over the back of it with his thumb. A faint thought tried to surface, telling him that he shouldn’t brush there, but he didn’t remember why.

For a split second, Jeremy tensed up, then he melted against Michael with a blissful sigh. “Guess I just forgot.” He shrugged bonelessly.

Guess it was nothing. “How could _you_ forget? You adore memes.” Michael playfully tsked and shook his head as he ate some more with his free hand. The occupied hand kept rubbing the back of Jeremy’s hand with its thumb.

“Old memes must be deleted to make way for the new.” Jeremy tried to make his voice serious, but he couldn’t seem to manage it, still too blissfully relaxed to really pull it off. He accepted the nugget Michael fed him without any protests.

“Hell no, there are so many good memes,” Michael protested. “Well, Ugandan Knuckles can go. But most of the old memes are good.” Michael ate another one of his own nuggets before drinking some lemonade. Mm.

Jeremy made a vague sound of agreement, taking a couple of fries and eating them. “Seems like your master plan worked, Mikey. I’m exhausted already.” He hummed, not pulling his hand away from Michael’s hold.

“You haven’t even eaten everything yet,” he playfully whined before feeding Jeremy another nugget.

Jeremy ate it with a happy hum. “I’m gonna finish, m’just saying it worked.”

“Good to know. Muahahah.” Michael grinned as he continued eating, finding himself getting contently and sleepily full as he finished off the fast food.

After they had finished, Jeremy tugged at Michael’s sleeve. “Mikey, m’all floppy. Can you carry me?” he asked as cutely as possible. Michael was a sucker for Jeremy’s puppy eyes. Damnit.

“Only because I can actually carry you, though it won’t be for long,” Michael said as he got up and picked Jeremy up, bridal style. “We’re gonna have to be quick, oh geez.”

“Are you calling me fat?” Jeremy joked, nuzzling against Michael’s chest with a happy sigh.

“No, I’m just a weakling,” he huffed as he hurried to take them into Jeremy’s room. Michael carefully rested Jeremy down in bed, shaking out his arms before joining him.

Following his gut feeling once more, Michael curled around Jeremy from behind, spooning him. Jeremy let out a happy sigh at the feeling, so obviously Michael was doing something right.

As they both started to drift off, Michael pecked the back of Jeremy's neck without thinking. Once again, Jeremy stiffened before falling totally boneless (something in the back of Michael's head noted that he was worryingly still, but he shook it off). His breathing was soft and slow, already asleep by the time Michael drifted off too.

Michael felt himself stir, and he looked around to see himself enveloped in the darkness. What? For some reason, he felt pinpricks all over his body that made him shiver. Weird, he normally was never cold.

Looking around, Michael spotted the only thing which wasn't just darkness: the control bar for a marionette. Feeling his curiosity bubble up, Michael headed over and picked it up.

There was a sight weight to it, so it was definitely connected to something, but he couldn't see anything else in the darkness.

He had never used a marionette before, but something urged him to try it out. Michael tried to get a feel for the bar, eventually finding how easy it was to use it, almost like it was second nature. He tried to look down, below him, to see what doll he was dancing around.

The doll was Jeremy, in his favorite striped shirt and cardigan, hanging just like he had when he was stuck in the game. The smile was the same and, even if he didn't have the black tears or the white eyes, he looked just as haunting. His expression was vacant, just an empty smile and unfocused eyes, like they were made of glass.

Michael gasped as he stumbled back. He tried to let go of the bar, but he found that he couldn’t. It was like it was stuck to his hand. “What the-“ He stopped as he felt his back pressed against a firm, solid, and prickling form.

"You're doing so well, Michael,” the chillingly familiar voice of SQUIP cooed, taking hold of Michael's arms and guiding him back to the edge, back to Jeremy. "Look at how happy you're making our little puppet. He just loves to be played with."

He shook his head, feeling choked up as he tried to get out of SQUIP’s grip. “N-no, I don’t want to do this! Let me go!” Michael cried as he felt tears forming.

He couldn't escape and felt even more horror bubble up as his arms began moving themselves to 'play' with Jeremy more. He danced around the little stage, limp and lost to the world, his expression never changing from the empty smile.

"Are you _sure_ you don't want it, Michael? All I'm doing is keeping you where you can watch, _you're_ the one playing with him," SQUIP whispered, its voice crackling a little with static.

“I don’t want to do this, this isn’t what I want,” Michael whimpered as he felt less of his own control present, like SQUIP was taking control through him. “Don’t make me do this.”

"I'm not making you do anything, Michael,” SQUIP cooed, releasing Michael's arms. One of its hands reached under his arms to wrap around his chest in a mockery of a hug, and the other reached up to play with Michael's hair. It hooked its chin over Michael's shoulder. "You're doing this yourself. You're doing it because it makes you _both_ feel good."

Michael was shocked to find that yes, this _was_ making him feel good. Warmth was bubbling up in his chest, something similar to how he felt when Jeremy was being sentimental or cute, and a sort of euphoria was working its way into his system the longer he played with Jeremy.

Still, he couldn’t help but feel himself cry as the good warmth continued invading him, almost taking him all over. SQUIP kept messing with his hair, whispering sweet words about how they both enjoyed this. Jeremy looked back up at Michael with how he moved Jeremy, the smile almost boring into his soul.

For some reason, the smile brought him joy.

Michael shot upright in bed, breathing hard and panicked. SQUIP knew that the dream was a bit of a long shot, but it had helped solidify his influence in Michael's brain.

He urged Michael to first check on the still sleeping Jeremy (who was still limp from the tiny shock to his strings earlier) then to go to the bathroom to calm down.

Michael did just that, seemingly confused. Yes, he didn’t remember the dream, but he just knew that he had a dream that freaked him out. Without SQUIP’s influence, Michael splashed his face with water, seeming to try to calm himself.

SQUIP took a moment to just enjoy what was happening. He was out, free at last, and Michael was none the wiser. He had slipped entirely unnoticed into the so-called hero and was now slowly but surely exerting his control over Michael.

Michael would be totally his in a matter of weeks.

Once Michael was totally and unknowingly subservient, he could start the true plan: merge with the boy. From there, and with their pretty little puppet Jeremy by their side, control of everything else would be easy enough to establish.

Michael finished splashing his face, so SQUIP started paying attention, helping Michael over to the towel.

Michael patted his face dry, taking a few deep breaths. He seemed to be feeling better, some of the panic leaving him. If anything, he seemed weary, which wouldn’t do. SQUIP had plans for him.

SQUIP got Michael to slip back into bed, but he made sure Michael grabbed his phone and started scrolling instead of going right back to sleep. SQUIP needed to practice.

Michael reached out and started stroking Jeremy’s hair sweetly. Or, that’s what he thought he was doing. Keeping Michael’s focus on his phone, but watching out of the corner of his eye, SQUIP started playing. The more Jeremy was played with, the better both he and Michael would feel and the more used to it they would both become. SQUIP kept it simple, just a slight raising of Jeremy’s hand and a quick swing from side to side, but it was enough. If he were awake, Jeremy would be in utter bliss, and Michael’s chest was warming even without knowing why. Perfect.

SQUIP focused back in on Michael’s phone when he heard a ‘ding.’ One of his moms wanted to know when he’d be back or if he was staying the night with Jeremy. They had things they needed to do, so no staying. He had Michael type that he was coming back soon, sending the text off before Michael hummed. “I need to trim Honey’s nails before bed,” he murmured, nodding to himself as if that was the real reason he was going back home.

SQUIP guided Michael to lie back down again and curl around Jeremy. Michael, without needing any prompting this time, pressed a kiss to the nape of Jeremy’s neck, giving SQUIP enough of a chance to ensure Jeremy would dream of being a puppet again, but this time with excitement.

When Michael got up and ready to leave, SQUIP offered one more little piece of advice. Michael wrote a note for Jeremy and left it on his pillow. After all, if Michael was going to be so good, the least SQUIP could do was guide him to a happy love life. They’d be sharing it eventually.


End file.
